Time to start thinking Christmas cooking

When five women from the Naomi Circle of the United Methodist Women's group rolled up their sleeves to bake, they meant business.

Their goal was to create, from scratch, more than 50 baked goods in one day to be sold at their annual Christmas Bazaar being held Saturday at the United Methodist Church of Cadillac.

In the mix were the pros- women who love to bake - and the helpers - those who like to work for a good cause.

“I've been here for 28 years,” explained Alice Fitzgerald, who peeled apples for the pies and tea rings. “There's been a fabulous bazaar here every year. We are just one unit of the church. The whole church participates.”

Fitzgerald explained that she volunteered to help with anything except the dough.

“I'm the peeler or a wrapper,” she said. “I have nothing to do with the food.”

Marilyn Truax, this year's Northern District Fair's Homemaker of the Year, headed up the baking, along with Clara Handy. These two women were the pros with pastry, whipping balls of dough into beautifully styled, circular tea rings, and then later in the day, making homemade piecrusts with beautifully crimped edges.

Donna Freeland said she also loves to cook and she volunteered to help chop bowls and bowls of apples. Later she decorated the tea rings with white frosting and Christmas wreaths made of maraschino cherries.

“This is a way to contribute to the missions,” explained Fitzgerald. “I like our emphasis on missions.”

The first part of the day was spent creating 36 Christmas Cinnamon Apple Tea Rings. The aroma of fresh baked pastries filled the air as the women kept the ovens filled. Once the tea rings were cooling, it was time to make piecrusts for the many berry pies that needed to be baked. They created cherry, red raspberry, blueberry, mixed berry, apple and blackberry pie.

“And these aren't the only pies that will be sold at the bazaar,” explained Truax. “Other people bring stuff in. I'm making bread at home and there are people making candy. We will have pumpkin and pecan pies. And, we target 450 fancy cookies, not just ordinary chocolate chips.”

The women started at 9 a.m. with their bake day chores. They hoped to finish by 2 p.m., but it would all depend on the stoves holding the warm temperatures with that many baked goods going in and out.

The United Methodist Annual Christmas Bazaar will have a Christmas room, a jewelry room, needlecrafts, quilts, a treasure boutique, and a country store with canned goods and craft items as well as theme baskets. There will be a doll and Teddy Bear room. Gently used shoes and handbags will be sold. There will be tables loaded with homemade baked goods, and a luncheon will be served for a small fee. All proceeds go toward UMW mission projects.

Your Local Connection

Basic Sweet Dough

An easy to handle kneaded dough for sweet rolls and coffee cake.

1/2-cup milk

1/2-cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 -stick butter or margarine

1/2 -cup warm water

2 packages or cakes of Fleischmann's yeast, active, dry or compresses

2 eggs beaten

4-1/2- cups unsifted flour (about)

Scald milk; stir in sugar, salt and margarine or butter. Cool to lukewarm. Measure warm water into a large, warm bowl. Sprinkle or crumble in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Stir the warm water with yeast into the lukewarm milk mixture. Add beaten eggs and half the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour to make slightly stiff dough. Turn dough out on lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic or about eight minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk or about one hour.

Cinnamon Apple Tea Ring

1 recipe basic sweet dough

1/2 stick margarine or butter melted

1-1/2cups finely chopped apples

1-cup sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Confectioner's sugar frosting

Prepare dough as described above. When ready to shape, divide dough in half. Roll out each half to a 14x7 inch oblong shape. Brush with melted butter. Combine finely chopped apples, sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Sprinkle over dough. Roll up from the long side. Seal the edges. Place sealed edges down in a circle on a greased baking sheet. Seal ends together firmly. Cut 2/3 way into rings with scissors at 1-inch intervals. Turn each section on its side. Cover. Let rise in warm place free from draft until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

Bake in moderate oven, 350 for about 20 to 25 minutes. Frost while warm with confectioner's sugar frosting.

Blueberry Pie

Pastry for 8-inch double crust

3 cups blueberries

1/4-cup flour

2/3-cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix flour, sugar and salt together and sprinkle about one-fourth the mixture over the bottom of the pastry. Pour in the blueberries and sprinkle rest of sugar and flour over top. Sprinkle lemon juice over all. Roll or place remaining pastry for top crust. Cut any desired design for steam vents. Brush edge of lower crust with cold water. Lay upper crust over pie. Press edges together to seal. Trim off excess dough. Turn under edge. Let rest 10 minutes then flute. Bake in a hot oven at 450 for 10 to 15 minutes or until crust is delicately browned. The reduce heat to moderately slow, 325 and continue baking until blueberries are cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and cool for 3 to 4 hours before cutting.

Apple Pie

Pastry for 8-inch double crust

7-8 tart medium apples

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, half brown

3/4 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1-tablespoon butter

Line pie pan with pastry and trim off even with edge of pan. Peel and quarter apples. Remove cores and cut into uniform slices about 1/4 inch thick. Mix flour and sugar and sprinkle one-fourth of it over the bottom of pastry. Arrange apples compactly into the pie, fitting the wedges in tightly. Sift the remainder of the sugar-flour mixture and the cinnamon over the apples. Dot top with butter and sprinkle with lemon juice (optional). Roll out top pastry; cut steam vents in center. Brush rim of lower crust with water. Lay top pastry over pie; trim it off about 1/2 inch beyond rim of pie pan with kitchen shears. Fold extending pastry under edge of lower pastry and press to seal. Let rest 10 minutes then flute or leave plain. Bake in a hot over at 450 for 15 minutes then reduce heat to about 325 and bake 35 minutes longer or until juice begins to bubble out of vents.