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Old Traditions In A New Home

Ann Powers enjoys making desserts for the residents in her building. Photos by Beverly Kehe-Rowland

When Ann Powers started married life she knew very little about preparing a meal, so little that she improvised to make her food look appealing.

“My mother always made such red goulash,” she says. “The first time I made goulash it wasn’t red so I added red food coloring and my macaroni was pink. The first time I made pumpkin pie I put a top crust on it and it never got done.”

Powers remembers calling her sister-in-law to ask how long to bake a roast. Since then she has learned her way around the kitchen. Here she has contributed some of her most requested recipes and has told the stories behind a few of them.

“We visited a sheep farm for dinner when we were in Ireland,” she says. “We were divided into groups and each group made their own dessert. We made scones in a cottage with a thatched roof.”

The Rice Pudding recipe came from her aunt, Viola Edson.

A tray holds Cherry Dessert and Delicious Rice Pudding that has been sampled.

“When we have potluck dinners everyone comments that there isn’t enough (rice pudding) and think I should bring two.”

The couple’s cat-sitter has been known to request it as payment for caring for Sammy, their orange tabby. The Carrot Bread is a family tradition served at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Powers says her husband Cliff’s favorite is her Cherry dessert.

“I try not to make it too often, because he doesn’t need the calories,” she jokes.

Powers and her husband recently left the acre of land they had lived on in Sinclairville since they married in 1969. They were the third generation of Powers’ family to own the farm, where they began married life in a one-bedroom mobile home and in 1975 built a three-bedroom house in which they raised their family. Although the farm no longer belongs to a family member, Cliff’s brother and brother-in-law live on part of the property and their daughter lives in the house her father grew up in. For most of her childhood, Powers lived just three miles away, where her parents resided from 1958 until a year before their recent passing.

“We have a lot of ties to Sinclairville, but this is more convenient to town,” she says of their new home at Fairway Pointe in Lakewood. Although Powers misses her garden, she still cans bread and butter pickles, peaches, applesauce and pears. In the past she canned tomatoes and made jams and jellies.

Ann Powers first made these scones while visiting a sheep farm in Ireland.

Besides cooking and baking, Powers enjoys reading, knitting and crocheting. She takes part in Twisted Stitchers, a group that meets in the library of her building and participates in dice and card games with other residents. She is also a member of Zonta Club of Jamestown, a women’s service organization.

The couple enjoys traveling and together they have been to every state except Texas and North Dakota. Powers collects magnets from the places she visits, and has amassed park passport stamps from the more than 200 parks they have visited over the years.

“The first two National Parks Passport Books I bought were the smaller ones, but they filled up pretty fast,” she says. “The next one was a larger one that I can add pages to.”

She has traveled to Canada, Ireland, England and the Netherlands and to Romania, Sweden, Spain and Portugal, as well as Morocco, Mexico and several places in the Caribbean. Mr. Powers has joined her on some of those trips.

She started a part-time job at Landers’ Men’s Store in 1970 and her husband joined her full-time after his employer, Art Metal, closed in 1971. They took out a bank loan 10 years later when they bought the business from their employer. She told about borrowing money from their children’s piggy banks to set up the cash register the first day.

One of three National Parks Passport Books the Powers have filled over many years of travel.

They have three daughters — Cindi Connolly resides in Forestville, Marcy Miller lives in Sinclairville and Shelly Hopkins makes her home in Middletown, Delaware — who have 10 children between them. All three daughters and two granddaughters have worked in the store.

Powers provides trays of holiday treats for her customers.

“At Christmastime I make about 60 dozen cookies, but have made as many as 100 dozen. I bake two to three kinds on Sundays starting the end of October and put them in the freezer. We usually have enough for the entire month of December,” she said. “When my granddaughter, Holly, was little, she always came and baked with me.”

Cranberry Buttermilk Scones

3 c flour

1/3 c plus

2 T sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda

3/4 c cold butter

1 c cold buttermilk

1 c dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 T milk

1 tsp Cinnamon

Combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and soda. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in buttermilk and then fold in cranberries and orange peel. Turn onto floured surface and divide in half. Pat into a 6 inch circle and using a cutter or glass cut out circles of dough. Repeat with other half. Place on a greased sheet. Brush with milk. Combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over scones. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Place on wire rack. Serve warm.

Carrot Bread

2 c sugar

1 c oil

3 eggs

3 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 c grated raw carrots

1/2 c chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together sugar, oil and eggs. Set aside. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Combine egg mixture with dry ingredients. Mix with mixer until well blended. Stir in carrots and nuts. Bake in two greased loaf pans for 55 minutes. Remove from pans when slightly cool and transfer to wire racks.

Apple Raspberry Salad

2 packages raspberry flavored gelatin

2 c hot water

1 package frozen raspberries or equivalent fresh

1 c apple sauce

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add raspberries and apple sauce. Pour into serving bowl and chill until set.

Fruit Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz marshmallow creme

3 T orange juice

Beat until well combined. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with assorted fresh fruit.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

1-7 oz pkg herb stuffing mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 c chicken broth

2 eggs, well beaten

2 1/2 c cooked chicken or turkey, diced

1/2 c milk

Toss stuffing mix with 1/2 can of soup, broth and eggs. Spread in 13″x 9″x 2″ baking dish. Top with chicken. Combine remaining soup with milk. Pour over all. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set. Let stand for a few minutes and cut into squares. Serves 8-10

Cranberry Apple Crisp

1 c light brown sugar

1 T cornstarch

3 c apples, peeled and sliced

1 can whole cranberry sauce

Mix sugar and cornstarch together and add apples. Pour cranberry sauce over the mixture. Spread into 11/2 quart baking dish and set aside.

Topping

1 stick margarine

11/2 c light brown sugar

1 c quick-cooking oatmeal

1/2 c chopped pecans

Melt margarine. Add remaining ingredients. Combine. Pour over apple mixture. Bake at 350degrees for 30 minutes.

Cherry Dessert

1 graham cracker crust

1 envelope Dream Whip, prepared

1 c confectioners sugar

8 oz cream cheese, softened

Make your favorite graham cracker crust. Press into a 9″ x 13″ pan. Bake or chill according to crust instructions. Mix remaining ingredients until smooth. Spread over crust. Top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate until serving.

Delicious Rice Pudding

1 qt milk

4 heaping T rice

1 T butter

1/4 tsp salt

Mix 2/3 cup sugar

4 slightly beaten eggs

Add to rice mixture

Sprinkle with cinnamon

Combine ingrediwnts in order given. Cook in double boiler for 1 hour. Cool slightly. Place in casserole dish and set in a pan of water. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Done when knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or cold.

Taco Bread

1 c plus 2 T water

3 c bread flour

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

1- 11/2 T taco seasoning mix

1 T sugar

å tsp salt

11/2 tsp yeast

Carefully measure and place all ingredients in bread machine according to your machines instructions. Great for toasting.

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