Monday, May 04, 2009

Apricot Fold Overs

I have no picture for this one either, but it is of course another favorite of my Mother's. She loves apricots in all forms. Apricot Kolachy, dried apricots, you name it, she'll like it. This is from my Grandma Curtin's handwritten recipes, likely off the Solo can. It is delicious - the shortening hassle is worth it.

‘Solo’ Apricot Fold Overs
1 12-oz. can Solo Apricot Filling
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 – ¾ cup milk

Sift flour with baking powder and salt; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk to make a soft dough and mix just till dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently ½ minute. Roll or pat ¼ inch thick. Cut into 3-inch circles with biscuit cutter or into diamond shapes with pastry cutter. Place a spoonful of Solo Apricot Filling in the center of each biscuit. Pinch edges of circles together, wetting slightly to make them stick. Fold over edges of diamonds and press down slightly. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in a very hot oven (450 degrees) 12 to 15 minutes. Makes about 1 dozen fold overs.

Scott Laming, the PR Coordinator for Abe Books, write me about this very interesting study his company did:
AbeBooks has just done a survey of 500 customers to find out which cook books are most often passed from generation to generation... We found that in 96 per cent of the cases, a grandmother, mother and mother-in-law had handed over the book to the next generation. The books tended to have a long history within each family – 58 per cent of the cookbooks were more than 50 years old. Thirty eight per cent of the current owners said they had owned the book for more than 30 years. The Joy of Cooking was most frequently handed down, followed by the Betty Crocker Cookbook and the Boston Cooking School Cookbook (aka The Fannie Farmer Cookbook).

http://www.abebooks.com/books/joy-cooking-rombauer-recipes-cookery/family-cookbooks.shtml

What cookbook has been handed down in your family? I have the Antoinette Pope and Square Meals, plus handwritten recipes from Mom and Grandma. My Grandma Alessio gave me a couple as well, she was another one who worked with her memory and instincts rather than recipes.

1 comment:

Sarah said...

The old Fannie Farmer is the standby in our family, and my mother may have received it from hers (I'm not sure, but it's awfully tattered and stained and old). I have lots of my husband's mothers handwritten recipes, as well as my mothers. I really want to make your jelly cake!