Washington State Apple Brownies

I LOVE Aebleskivers!! I loved Solvang too. It is one of the cute little villages that still retains its charm.

Yes, Erma, I remember our first visit with the Republican Women’s Club. We both wanted to buy so much, and we couldn’t afford hardly anything. So we bought aebleskiver pans which were a lot more practical than silver and linens when you come down to it.

You might want to try this Apple Brownies recipe I picked up in Washington State a few years ago. Being the Apple Capital of the World, cooks there put apples in everything.

I’m not sure that this is really a Brownie. Borwnies have CHOCOLATE. I would call this more of a apple bread, but it is very good. These are really moist so you have to store them in a air tight container. Of course, usually there aren’t enough left to worry about storing them.

Apple Brownies:

½ cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons hot water
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup nuts
6 medium apples, coarsely chopped

Cream the butter, sugar and eggs with a mixer. Add soda dissolved in hot water. Mix the dry ingredients in small mixing bowl. Fold into the creamed mixture. Fold in the nuts and apples.

Spray a large cookie sheet with sides (same pan you would use for a jelly roll). Spoon in the dough and smooth the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 30 brownies.

Keep in a tight container like the as these are very moist.

Rich, Sweet Tomato Dressing

Erma dear, I love my Shaker cookbooks too, and I have you to thank for taking me to Shakertown at Pleasant Hill. We have spent so many days wandering through the grounds and looking at all the exhibits and displays. I will even confess to snipping a few buds and seeds from herbs in their herb gardens to bring home.

Imagine the Shaker sisters cooking for a hundred or more at each meal in their giant kitchens, which they wisely placed partly underground for cooling, and then preserving, drying, canning. So many people think of the Shakers as one of those odd groups (okay, they were communal and celibate) who did everything in old fashioned ways like the Amish. What people forget is that the Shakers were big into inventing labor saving devices. If there were Shaker sisters today, they would be the first to use food processors, commercial mixers, and heavy duty baking equipment.

Recently I found some Washington State Walla Walla onions in the grocery. How they ended up here in Iowa, I do not know, but there were a couple small bags and I grabbed all they had. You know me Erma, I ate one straight out of the bag. I firmly believe that onions are a health food.

When we stayed at a little B and B outside Seattle several years ago, they served a salad dressing with Walla Walla onions. It works with other varieties as well, just not quite as sweet. This is a robust dressing with plenty of tang to enliven bland mostly lettuce salads.

Onion Dressing From Washington State:

1 small Walla Walla sweet onion
¼ cup catsup
½ cup salad oil
¼ cup wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons paprika

Finely grate the onion on a grater. Add everything else and whip with a whisk well. Refrigerate. Before serving you may need to stir the dressing again.

Makes 1 ½ cups