Harvest "softies" bring harvest of blessings on warm July 4 weekend

A recipe with the title of "Harvest Softies" sounds as though it should accompany turkey and dressing and pecan pie.

But smack in the middle of July, these delightful frosted cookies were perfect for the summer taste buds as well. They ushered in a harvest of blessings as they lined trays at my book-signing on Saturday during the July 4th weekend.

The Generator coffee shop in Historic Downtown Garland on the Square was the setting for the Garland launch for Way Back in the Country Garden (the Delta County launch is set for July 10 in Cooper, TX). A more perfect spot than this trendy Internet coffee shop could not have been selected.

My mother, one of the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls who are the main characters in my new cookbook, had so grieved over the formerly sad status of The Generator's site before it recently was restored. A Garlandite since 1941, my mother remembered the Square in its former glory days when it was the center of the universe in our hometown. As the years went by, shopkeepers retired, stores closed, and people sped to the malls to do their shopping, so often the stores stood vacant. My mother would wring her hands until some new ownership could be found in each and business was revitalized in those spots that held such memories.

This particular location on the Square's west side took an especially long and agonizing time to become regentrified. At last the spot at which The Generator now stands was purchased by Robert Smith, the son of a respected "old-Garland" family who was the ideal person to add proper credence to an earnest and accurate re-do of the once beautiful building.

Now The Generator--stunningly restored on both inside and out--is the Square's happenin' place. The proprietor, Tammy Long, makes a special effort to meet today's healthy eating requisites, with nonfat, gluten-free, and vegan offerings on the menu as well as regular fare. Tammy really outdid herself for my signing and prepared several Way Back in the Country featured recipes to offer to customers on Saturday. In baking cupcakes from Aunt Frances' Strawberry Cake recipe, Tammy served up one cupcake batch that was made gluten-free as well as stirring up another batch the traditional way. Being an Internet cafe, The Generator has Wi-Fi available, so customers with laptops dotted tables in the cafe's cheerful setting. A jazz band ensemble with a singer belted out upbeat tunes as customers poured in.

My book-signing table saw friends and loved ones pop in as a tremendous show of loving support. They included several "anchors" from my growing-up days at First Baptist Church of Garland; family members and neighbors who made special efforts to stop by on a busy weekend; civic and community contacts; some new friends who visited so they could share about their own backyard gardens; and even Garland's Mayor Pro Tem--city councilwoman Laura Perkins "Perky" Cox, who lent her perkiness to my table display and helped "arrange" my location for maximum exposure (as only a true politico knows how.)

Visitors to my table were invited to sample one of the Harvest Softies (the recipe, that features grated fresh apple, appears below) as well as Texas Pecan Pie Mini-Muffins (recipe on page 140 of Way Back in the Country Garden. These concerned nuts from our pecan trees.) Both items were a hit with guests and in some cases spurred them to take home a copy of the cookbook so they could stir up their own batch of the pastries.

I hope that on Saturday, God granted my mother a spot at the balustrade of heaven so she could peek down on the convivial setting in a venerable Garland building she once thought was beyond the pale. I think the lively scene that symbolized a bright future for the old downtown Garland Square would have made this little Red-Haired Miller Girl very happy.

Harvest Softies

Cookies:

1 cooking apple (such as MacIntosh), peeled and cored

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg (we used egg substitute)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

Icing:

1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar (about 4 cups)

1/3 cup apple juice

Line 2 large baking sheets with foil. Lightly spray foil so cookies won't stick. Grate apple into a bowl; add apple juice. In a separate large bowl with a mixer beat butter, sugar, egg, and cinnamon until the mixture is fluffy (about 2 minutes). With a spoon stir in half the flour, the apple mixture, then the remaining flour. Drop batter by tablespoons onto the prepared sheets, with cookies spaced 3-inches apart. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 17 minutes until cookies are lightly browned. Remove to a rack; cool completely. Repeat. For icing in medium-sized bowl blend sifted powdered sugar and apple juice until smooth and firm enough so icing won't run. Spread icing on top of cookie; leave about 1/4-inch of cookie showing around edge. When icing is firm, store cookies in refrigerator until time to serve.

Plum-peach dish summarizes childhood summers; yields a winner of a dessert

If ever a dessert existed that--all in one dish--encapsulated the summers of my childhood, it's the spectacular Plum-Peach Crumble.

But previously I've always had to hit the grocery store produce aisle or borrow from someone else's fruit trees to complete the process of making it.

Not this year! I'm proud to report that every smattering of peaches and plums needed to hatch up this wonderful creation hailed from my own back yard.

Our plum tree, for the first time, yielded a bevy of baby plums--prolific, sweet, and juicy. Into the pie mix they went, along with a small sackful of peaches I'd been hoarding until the plums were ripe and ready.

For dessert last night we had the Moore Orchard-produced Peach-Plum Crumble. O, was it a spectacular treat!

The reason Plum-Peach Crumble encapsulates my childhood is very simple. In the yard my parents purchased to build their home on Garland's South 11th Street were two kinds of fruit trees--peaches and plums. Summers were spent with me alternating between these delicious fruit: after lunch one day I'd snare a fresh peach for dessert; another day I'd grab a plum.

My parents were fortunate to get a ready-made fruit orchard in their back yard and that they didn't have to spend years cultivating one. That had been done by their neighbor, Brother Hunt, a retired Baptist minister who tended his gardens situated in the vacant lot that was next to his home on South 11th (now part of Historic Downtown Garland).

My parents had spotted the empty lot as a potential location for the house they wanted to build near downtown. They wanted to locate in an area in which their only child could walk to all 12 grades of school. Brother Hunt's vacant lot was only one block from the junior high and high school and two blocks from the neighborhood elementary.

My mother approached Brother Hunt's daughter, who taught typing at the high school in which my mother had been school secretary. But Louise Hunt told my parents that her dad enjoyed his fruit orchard too much to part with the lot on which it was located.

My parents had been headed out to close the sale on another lot, some five blocks away—their distant second choice. But Louise Hunt's phone call caught them in time. Her dad was getting up in years, she said, and couldn't tend the garden as he once had, so he had reconsidered. He would sell them the 11th-Street lot which housed his prized peach and plum trees, as well as an expansive vegetable garden. My parents were ecstatic to get their first choice of lots and told Brother Hunt he could pick fruit off his former trees any time he liked.

When Brother Hunt sauntered through the hedge to visit his former garden, he enjoyed talking with the loquacious little girl who now lived on the lot. The older retired preacher and the pipsqueak young neighbor became best buddies. But I'm surprised he ever found any fruit left on his trees. I usually had beat him to the peaches and plums that he had given their start.

Some years back I happened onto this recipe for Plum-Peach Crumble (now contained in my new book, Way Back in the Country Garden) and couldn't believe my good fortune. I've baked it for several summers in a row. But this year--our prized fruit orchard sourced the entire concoction. Brother Hunt, long in Glory but whose memory still remains with that now-grownup pipsqueak young neighbor--his buddy--would be so pleased.

Plum-Peach Crumble

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (we use sugar substitute)

1/2 teaspoon salt (we use salt substitute)

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg (we use egg substitute)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 cup heavy cream (we substitute skim milk)

1 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 pound plums, peeled and chopped (about 1 1/4 cup chopped)

3/4 pound peaches, peeled and chopped (about 1 1/4 cup chopped)

fat-free whipped topping or fat-free vanilla yogurt

slivered almonds

Mix together brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in flour. Divide mixture in half. Set one-half aside. To other half add cinnamon, baking powder, and 1 egg. Blend well. Press into bottom of 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. When the crust bakes, whisk together remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, cream (milk), and almond extract. Remove crust from oven and spread chopped plum and peaches on top. Pour cream mixture over fruit. Sprinkle with reserved half of butter-blour mixture. Sprinkle with additional brown sugar if desired. Bake at 350 degrees until crumb topping is browned (about 20-25 minutes). Serve warm with whipped topping or fat-free vanilla yogurt and slivered almonds.