Hot Cider Toddy
Mrs. J.O. Morrell
From Mountain Makins in the Smokies

2/3 c. strained honey
7 c. cider
1 apple
1 orange
1 t. grated orange rind
2 c. orange juice
Whole cloves

Mix honey and 1 cup of cider well. Add rest of cider, Stud the apple and orange with cloves. Add to cider and heat. Add rind and juice, and heat for about 2 minutes longer. Serve piping hot.

Holidays in the Great Smoky Mountains were celebrated with weeklong festivities. Friends, family and neighbors gathered to share good cheer with storytelling, music, dancing and, of course, food!

Bring a little bit of the Smokies to your holiday table this year with this traditional recipe for Sweet Potato Pie. For more traditional Smokies recipes, pick up a copy of Food and Recipes of the Smokies online or at any GSMA bookstore location.

Sweet Potato Pie
Bruna Winchester
Bryson City, NC

4 c. mashed cooked sweet potato (can also use pumpkin)
4 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
2 unbaked 9-inch pie shells

Combine sweet potato, butter, and eggs and mix well. Combine sugar, flour and salt and stir into potato mixture. Combine buttermilk and baking soda, add to potato mixture and mix well. Stir in vanilla. Pour filling into pastry shells. Bake at 350 degrees one hour and 10 minutes, or until set.

Louise’s Pie Crust
Louise Woodruff
Walland, TN

Flour, White Lily Self-Rising
½ c. buttermilk
1/3 c. shortening

Sift bowl full of flour, make well in center, add buttermilk and shortening. Dip in and mix together with hands to make a very stiff batter, then let set about 10 minutes. Work back down and roll out thin on floured board to fit pie pan. Pour pie mixture in. This dough can also be used for fried pies.

Apple butter making will take place on October 17 (weather permitting). Sorghum making will take place on November 6, 7 & 8.

Cades Cove Mule-Powered Sorghum Mill. Photo by Matt Howell.

Cades Cove Sorghum Mill. Photo by Matt Howell.

Dan Myers at a Bee Gum

bzzz…

Hot Pepper Relish & Honey Glazed Chicken

This dish has a sweet and spicy taste, reminiscent of Chinese fare.
Serves 4

12 chicken tenders
1/3 cup GSMA Hot Pepper Relish
1/3 cup GSMA Sourwood Honey
1/3 cup Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray large, shallow nonstick baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
Pat chicken tenders dry with paper towels and arrange on baking sheet so they are not crowded.

In a small bowl stir together pepper relish, honey and mustard; spoon over chicken to coat.

Bake uncovered 20 – 25 minutes, basting often with glaze in pan, until chicken is no longer pink, juices run clear and glaze has thickened.

Let rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before serving.

Great served over rice, I used long grain and wild rice.

[Editorial Note: Notice Sharon is serving the chicken and rice on a family heirloom: a rare and genuinely radioactive Fiestaware orange plate. The color is made with uranium! No kidding.]

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Don’t let the 100% whole wheat frighten you! These got their name when my husband tasted these and exclaimed, ”These are the best muffins I’ve ever tasted.” They really are delicious!!

2 cups GSMA Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (do not substitute)
2 whole eggs
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (yep, you read that right)
1/4 cup GSMA Sourwood Honey
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
Olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350
Spray 12-cup, nonstick muffin pan with olive oil spray (do not use liners)

Remove 1/4 cup flour mixture and set aside
Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl
In another bowl whisk eggs lightly
To eggs, add the buttermilk, oil, honey, and brown sugar, then slowly whisk together
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently stir with whisk.
Stir in walnuts (or pecans)
Remove frozen blueberries from freezer and place in a small bowl (if berries are not wet, spritz lightly with water, do the same if using fresh blueberries)
Pour reserved 1/4 cup flour over berries and toss to coat (this will help berries stay suspended in batter instead of sinking to bottom of muffin)
Gently fold blueberries into batter with spatula

Drop batter by spoonfuls evenly into muffin cups, cups will be about 3/4 full

Baking time varies between 20-25 minutes. Start checking for doneness at 20 minutes. Insert wooden toothpick in center of tallest muffin, when toothpick comes out clean, they are done.

Remove and cool in pan, on cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Turn out onto serving plate and watch them disappear!

Warning, Warning… hard to stop eating, so if you don’t have a large family you may want to freeze half, or cut recipe in half, and make only 6 muffins!

Variations: You may add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, or 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. You could also substitute 1 cup chopped apples, pears, strawberries, or raisins for blueberries.

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Here’s another healthy and delicious recipe from GSMA’s own Sharon Ryan.

1 cup GSMA Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups unbleached bread flour
3/4 cup oats (rolled or quick cooking)
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons GSMA Sorghum Molasses
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk (approx. 105 degrees)
3/4 cup raisins

Bread Machine Method: Place all ingredients (except fruit) into the pan of your bread machine according to the directions that came with your machine.
Add raisins about 20 to 25 minutes into the kneading cycle.

Manual Method: In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form, a loose dough.
Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) until it is smooth. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow it to rest for 1 hour.
It will become puffy, but may not double in bulk.
Transfer dough onto a lightly oiled surface and shape into a log.
Place the log in a lightly greased 9×5 inch loaf pan and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap.
Allow it to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until it has crested 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.
Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 – 40 minutes. If top starts to brown to quickly, tent with aluminum foil.
This great tasting bread makes wonderful sandwiches or toast!

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Homemade Crackers from Sharon Ryan

1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup GSMA stone ground whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup salted butter
1/2 cup water (cold)

Process oats in a blender or food processor until evenly ground.
Place oats and all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Cut in the butter until the mixture has the consistency of coarse bread crumbs.
Mix the cold water with the dry ingredients to form a dough.
Shape the dough into a 9-inch-long roll.
Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
Slice into 1/8-inch-thick rounds and place on an ungreased foil-lined baking sheet (see photo below).
Flatten each cracker with the tines of a fork to desired thickness.
Bake at 375 degrees F, for 12 minutes, or until the edges are nicely browned.
Makes 6 dozen crackers.

Toppings: Pumpkin or Apple Butter, Mild or Hot Pepper Relish, Blackberry or Strawberry Preserves

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Ever wondered what a cracker looked like before it is cut? See Sharon slicing them below.

And here are some crackers with our strawberry preserves.

Click here or on the photo below to watch a 6 minute video of Chef Mari making the muffins!

Sourwood Honey Muffins

1 cup wheat bran

1 1/2 cup GSMA stone ground whole wheat flour

1/2 cup dried cranberries (raisins or other dried fruits will work as well)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup milk

1/2 cup GSMA Sourwood honey

3/4 cup applesauce

2 tbsp. oil

2 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Combine wheat bran, flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
Stir in cranberries.
In a separate bowl, blend applesauce, milk, honey, oil, and eggs.
Add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
Spoon batter into greased muffin tin and bake for fifteen-twenty minutes.

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