Wednesday, April 18, 2018

PEACH (BLACKBERRY) COBBLER

Friend Janice and I lucked up on an estate sale last week that had a number of cookbooks for sale, many, many of them being Mennonite. It was so hard for me to pick which ones to buy. Janice bought two that I haven't had a chance to go through, but I hope to soon. This is how I spent my $6.



This cookbook called A Farmer's Daughter Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen by Dawn Stoltzfus had a number of pages that were marked with little pieces of paper. Of course, I checked those out, but also found several of my own that I want to try. The first one that caught my eye was this one for Peach Cobbler. I added the word Blackberry in the title because Dawn also suggested throwing in a cup of blackberries, "if you had just been out picking some". I hadn't been out picking any but I had some frozen that I had picked last year from the blackberry bushes we have planted on the hillside behind our house.
The peaches I used are also fresh peaches that I froze last year and still had in the freezer. They were still so pretty. If you are interested in how I freeze them, you can check out the post HERE.

I followed Dawn's recipe except for substituting stevia for the sugar. In her directions, she talked about crumbling the mixture over the fruit. I often have this problem that my mixture isn't "crumbles". I just took two ice tea spoons and put small dabs all over the top of the fruit. 

In the narrative before the recipe, Dawn wrote, "Peach cobbler and grilled chicken was another summertime meal on the farm. We would come in late from doing chores, baling hay, filling the silo, or working in the garden, and this is what we would eat. Not necessarily the most well-balanced meal, but it still evokes such good memories of coming in ravenously hungry and sharing tasty food with the ones I love Yum!"

IF YOU WANT A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE, CLICK HERE.



PEACH (BLACKBERRY) COBBLER

4      cups              peaches, peeled and sliced
1      cup                blackberries (optional)
1      teaspoon       cinnamon
 2/3  cup                raw or white sugar (I used stevia)
3      tablespoons  salted butter, softened (I only have unsalted butter.)
1      cup                flour
1      teaspoon       baking powder
1/3   cup                milk
2      tablespoons  brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.


In an ungreased 9 x 9 - inch pan, place fruit and

sprinkle with cinnamon; set aside.


With a hand mixer, beat sugar, butter, flour, baking powder, and milk together.


Crumble mixture over fruit.


Sprinkle brown sugar on top.

Bake for 45 - 55 minutes.
(I wanted the topping to be a little browner and used the broil option on my oven for the first time. I almost browned it too much.)




Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. (My husband likes lots of ice cream.)





Serves 4 - 6.

4 comments:

  1. Oh I like it! And...I have that cookbook on the top left, The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals, and I use it all the time! Mine doesn't have the same binding, it is bound like a book, but it's a keeper! I've had it for many, many years. It's still one of my favorites. I love Amish cookbooks. I have one from Marcia Adams that is another favorite. Hope you enjoy using them! Thanks for sharing this cobbler!

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  2. I actually haven't had a chance to look through much of it. Glad to hear it is a good one. I didn't think it would not be good though. There were two copies of it at the sale. Really enjoying the other ones. Have made several from The Farmer's Daughter and marked a number in the other two.
    Patricia

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  3. The Hochstedler cookbook interests me most. It's in those little family cookbooks that you can find real gems from a culinary and cultural ethnography standpoint. The spelling of the name is a little different from you typically see among the Amish and Mennonites, but variations of that name are not uncommon. Does it say where the book is from (i.e.where the Hochstelders live? And what year?)

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    1. There is no date or publishing company listed in the cookbook. On the dedication page you learn about Emmanuel and Mattie Hochstedler. It says that he was born in 1909 in Kokomo Indiana and Mattie was born September 28th 1908. Their first home was in Waupecong, Indiana where he did farm work. He was ordained by lot at the Howard-Miami Mennonite Church in 1947 at the age of 38. From preaching and going to Rescue Missions, prison work, jails, Bible Schools, while raising a large family, 12 children, to having a radio broadcast and shipping Bibles to Africa in his retirement years. In 1996 when it sounds like this book was published he was 87 and was Bishop of the Rich Valley Mennonite Church. The book is in excellent condition and is autographed on the first page by Shirleen Hochstedler, a daughter-in-law. A family tree/list is given with names and number of children for 3 generations.The list includes the number of children by the grandchildren, but not names. Very interesting book with personal family notes.The children primarily were living in IN.
      Patricia

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