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--> --> July 30: Have some apple pandowdy By Jeff Cheek I attended high school in Texas, 1942-46. We were fighting WWII. Most of our songs were romantic or patriotic ballads, but one popular novelty song went like this: "Shoo fly pie, and apple pandowdy, Makes your eyes light up, your tummy say howdy, Shoo fly pie, and apple pandowdy, And I never get enough of that wonderful stuff." I was curious enough to do some research. Shoo Fly Pie is a molasses pie, created by the Pennsylvania Dutch. Flies also love it, so one person has to be stationed to shoo them away when it is served at church picnics. In time, Molasses Pie became Shoo Fly Pie. That is the name you will find in today's cookbooks. Apple pandowdy is first cousin to a peach cobbler. We associate peach cobbler with Southern cooking whereas apple pandowdy is more popular in New England. These two might be called "the working class" desserts. They are tasty and filling, but ordinary looking and inexpensive. Pandowdy is an Early American creation with an English title. Actually, it has three English titles, because culinary writers can not agree on the root source of the word dowdy. Some sources say dowdy comes from "dowler" an Old English word defined as "a cake or dumplin made in a hurry." Others claim it is based on "crowdie." This is another Old English word for a heavy gruel made from oatmeal, water, and milk with a little sugar if you were wealthy enough to afford it. In the Somerset dialect, a "douldy" is a custard or pudding like dish, another possible source. The dish comes from Colonial America. It was first published in 1803 in "The Dictionary of American Food and Drink," by John F. Mariani. Pandowdy was a family dessert, but in 1840 it was given mass exposure, when the Durgin-Park's Market Dining Room opened on Poston's Market Street, midway between the busy Faneuil and Quincy markets. Quantity, not quality was the hallmark of this huge, barn-like restaurant. Patrons paid a set price and sat at ten man tables. Waiters brought bowls of chowder, loaves of bread, pots of New England Boiled Dinner, with a pan of Apple Pandowdy for dessert. INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons shortening 4 or 5 teaspoons water 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 cup molasses (or maple syrup) 1/2 cup water 5 cups peeled, sliced apples 2 tablespoons butter PREPARATION: For pastry: Mix flour and salt, cut in shortening. Add water slowly, blending with fork. Roll out to one eighth inch thickness. Meanwhile, mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg together, add molasses and water. Stir well. Arrange apples in baking dish, pour molasses mixture over them. Dot with butter, cover with pastry. Bake at 425 degrees 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven, chop crust into fruit. Bake at 325 degrees until apples are mushy, about 20 minutes. Serve with pitcher of light cream. Jeff Cheek lives in Medford Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing