1. Cooking, American Style Class 2 Fall Foliage International Center at Catholic Charities Community Services October 8, 2013 Instructor: Virginia Guilford

3. Cooking, American Style Class 1 – American Cuisine Class 2 – Fall Foliage Class 3 – Supermarkets Class 4 – Halloween Party Class 5 – Thanksgiving

4. Cooking American Style Class 2 – Fall Foliage Fall Traditional Activities Recipes Fall Foliage Favorites and Menus

5. Fall Foliage Traditions Drive to New England or go to a local park to see a landscape with colorful leaves. Collect and preserve the leaves. Visit an apple orchard and pick your own apples Visit a cider mill and see apple cider being made. Visit a farm and pick your own pumpkins Visit a corn maze Buy pumpkins, squash and colorful Indian corn at a farm stand in the country. Decorate your doorway or tabletop with colorful leaves & Indian corn.

6. Places to Observe Fall Foliage Central Park, Manhattan Prospect Park, Brooklyn Forest Park, Queens Bronx Botanical Garden, Bronx Bear Mountain State Park Merritt Parkway, Connecticut

7. Collecting Leaves When you go to view the fall foliage, take a walk in the forest. Collect some of the fallen leaves – choose the ones with the brightest colors or the ones with the most unusual shape. Leaves can be pressed, sealed in wax paper, or preserved. The dried or preserved leaves can be used for decorations or as a liner for a cheese tray or dessert display.

8. Pressed Dried Leaves Put leaves between paper towels inside the pages of a large, heavy book. Let them dry for 1 week. When leaves are dry, place them on a piece of paper, and frame them.

9. Wax Paper Leaves Choose thin leaves with a low moisture content, but choose leaves that are not so dry that they have started to curl. Put each leaf between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Cover your ironing board with an old cloth rag, so you dont get wax on the board. Place the leaf sandwich on top of the old cloth. Place another old cloth on top of the sandwich. Heat the iron to high, but NO STEAM. Slowly run the iron back and forth over the cloth. Don't press too hard to begin with, or the leaves will shift. Once the paper has begun to seal, use the full weight of the iron and hold it for about 4-5 seconds on each spot. Lift the top cloth to see if the waxed paper as melted and sealed. The leaves will be much clearer and brighter when the wax has melted. Allow the leaf sandwich to cool, then cut out individual leaves. Leave a small margin around the leaves so the waxed paper stays sealed.

10. Preserved Leaves Purchase liquid glycerine (available in most pharmacies). Mix 1 part glycerine and 2 parts water. Pour into a shallow pan. Place leaves in a single layer in the pan. Make sure they are completely covered with the liquid. Let them soak for 1 day. Remove the leaves from the pan, place on paper towels, and let dry.

11. Pick Your Own Apples Masker Pick-It-Yourself Orchard, Warwick, NY http://www.maskers.com/ http://www.maskers.com/ Wrights Farm, Gardiner, NY http://www.eatapples.com/pick.html http://www.eatapples.com/pick.html Silvermans Farm, Easton, CT http://www.silvermansfarm.com/ http://www.silvermansfarm.com/ Wrightmans Farms, Morristown, NJ http://www.wightmansfarms.com/ http://www.wightmansfarms.com/

12. Apple Ripening Dates NOTE – Macintosh, Granny Smith, & Courtland varieties may ripen as early as August & September. First - Second Week of October –Ida Reds Big, red and juicy - a fine cooking or dessert apple; for eating, applesauce, baking, pies] Early - Mid October –Romes Firm popular cooking apple; for eating and pies –Mutsu (Crispin) Picked in September, it has the tart flavor of the Granny Smith; picked in October, it is sweet; for eating –Golden Delicious A large, sweet yellow-green apple; for eating, baking, pies, salads, applesauce

13. Apple Storage You will enjoy eating apples fresh from the tree, especially heirloom varieties that dont keep well in storage. Fresh apples are tart, crisp and crunchy. When apples are stored, the apple starch turns to sugar, and the apples will taste sweeter. –Stored at home in the refrigerator or in a cool basement, apples will keep for up to 3 months –Store professionally at 32 degrees, apples will keep for 5 months or more.

14. Pick Your Own Pumpkins Muscoot Farm, Somers, NY http://muscootfarm.org/calendar.htm http://muscootfarm.org/calendar.htm Stuarts Fruit Farm, Granite Springs, NY http://www.stuartsfarm.com/pumpkin.html http://www.stuartsfarm.com/pumpkin.html Harvest Moon Farm, North Salem, NY http://www.harvestmoonfarmandorchard.c om/index.html http://www.harvestmoonfarmandorchard.c om/index.html

15. Apple Cider Mills Jericho Cider Mill, Jericho, NY https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jericho- Cider-Mill/107396932651960 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jericho- Cider-Mill/107396932651960 Mister Cider, Hudson, NY http://www.mistercider.com/ http://www.mistercider.com/ Meadowbrook Farm, Wappingers Falls, NY http://meadowbrookfarmmarket.com/Meadow brook_Farm_Market/Home.html http://meadowbrookfarmmarket.com/Meadow brook_Farm_Market/Home.html

16. Cider Mill You can make your own apple cider, if you have room for a small cider mill. Approximately 30 to 40 apples will yield one gallon of cider. Apple Cider or Apple Juice? –Apple cider is the fresh, unpasteurized, unfiltered juice of apples. Cider will ferment and become slightly fizzy after a few days. –Apple juice is processed more. It is usually pasteurized so that it will not ferment so easily. And it is filtered so that the juice looks clear.

17. Other Fall Activities The Amazing Maize Maze – Floral Park, Queens –Weekends and Columbus Day: Saturday, September 21- Sunday, October 27 11am-4:30pm –Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Parkway –$9 for adults, $5 for children ages 4-11 The Haunted Pumpkin Garden - Bronx –Saturday, September 21-Thursday, October 31 10am-6pm –New York Botanic Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard Free with All-Garden Pass: $20-$25 for adults, $8-$10 for children ages 2-12.Nighttime Adventures: $20 per person. Central Park Pumpkin Festival – Manhattan –Saturday, October 26 11am-3pm –Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue –FREE

18. Recipes Cider Reduction Braised Pork Chops with Pears & Onions Apple Crisp

19. Cider Reduction Ingredients –8 cups fresh apple cider Directions –Put apple cider in a 6-8 quart saucepan. –Bring cider to a boil over high heat. –Let it boil, stirring occasionaly, until the cider is reduced to 2 cups. –Will keep for 1 month in refrigerator, 6 months in freezer.

20. Braised Pork Chops with Pears & Onions Ingredients 6 cloves of garlic Olive oil 4 thick pork chops 1 large red onion, cut in wedges 2 Bosc pears, cut in quarters, core removed, skin left on ¼ cup balsamic vinegar ¼ cup red wine vinegar 2 Tablespoons honey Salt & pepper Directions Saute garlic in olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Add pork chops and brown over medium high heat. Tuck red onion wedges & pear quarters between the chops. Mix together balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar & honey. Add to pan. Add salt & pepper Continue to cook in the oven at 450°F for 30 – 45 minutes, or until the chops are tender.

21. Apple Crisp Ingredients 6 tart apples, peeled & sliced 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider reduction ¾ cup Quaker oats ¾ cup flour Dash salt 8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick) ½ cup chopped pecans Heavy cream for whipping, or vanilla ice cream Directions Preheat oven to 350°F Toss the apples with 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and lemon juice or cider. Place in 1 1/2 quart lightly buttered baking dish. Combine the flour & oats & salt in a separate bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks, until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add chopped pecans. Spread topping over apples, bake at 350°F degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream

22. Peeling, Coring & Slicing Apples Cut the apples into quarters Draw the knife around the core of the quarter, cutting it out. Using your knife against your thumb, slice away the peel of the quarter. Slice the quarter into 3 or 4 thinner apple slices

23. Fall Foliage Favorites Fall Foliage Themes –Brown, Orange, Gold –Apple Picking –Winery Tour Your Fall Foliage Menus –Fall Foliage Picnic? –Fall Foliage Cocktail Party?

24. Presentation Slides and Recipes For the presentations for all five Cooking, American Style classes For a document with the all the recipes from all the classes Go to the Docs & Links page of my website at www.virginiaguilford.com