816-lancnt*r Fanning, Saturday, January 18, 1992 Best Apple Pie Bake LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Apple pie enthusiasts waited more than two hours for four judges to choose the best apple pie in Penn sylvania from 59 entries at the Pen nsylvania Farm Show on January 11. What everyone learned is that there is more than one way to make an apple pie. In addition to the traditional two-crust pies and crumb toppings, there were artistic designs cutout and layered on pies. Some were topped with cream cheese mixtures or iced with frost ing. One was baked in a bundt bak ing dish. According to the judges, all were delicious and devoured by hungry bystanders as soon as judg ing ended. Connie Shuff won top prize of $lOO for her Special Ingredient Apple Pie. Her secret ingredient? Kahlua. “Kahlua seems to be a popular ingredient in recipes. My daughter put it in a cake and won first prize at a contest so I thought I’d try it in pier* Connie said. This was the first major win in cooking competition for Connie who enters the apple pie contest at the York Interstate Fair every year. “This is the first time that I got this far,” she said. “I’m going to use my money to buy more apples to make more pies.” Second-place honors and $6O went to Antoinette Fava who with her husband, Joseph, operate a dairy farm in Scenery Hill. This was Antoinette’s second appear ance at the Farm Show’s apple pie contest after two first-place wins at West Alexander Fair. “I thought I had a good chance of winning this time because I developed the recipe myself,” she said of her Caramel Apple Pie. “My mother was a wonderful cook, and without her example, I wouldn’t be here,” Antoinette said. Another incentive for Antoin ette to enter the contest was her children. “For years the kids com peted in 4-H with dairy cows. They told me that I should compete in something because they do.” This year for the first lime in 11 years, the only thing the Fava fam ily brought from their dairy farm was an apple pie. “We had to get up at 3 a.m., to get here in time,” Antoinette said. UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Manure nourishes crops, improves soil structure and reduces fertilizer costs. But man ure applied excessively or impro perly can cause environmental problems such as killing fish in streams and contaminating groundwater with nitrate. "Sometimes farms have too much manure," says Dr. Robert Graves, professor of agricultural engineering in Penn State's Col lege of Agriculture. 'Tf these farms don't have extensive cropland for spreading manure, disposal becomes a problem." Farmers in this situation have potential alternatives, including marketing, composting, burning, refeeding and producing methane. "All of these are possibilities, but each has drawbacks, risks and dif ficulties that might make it inap propriate for an individual farm," Graves says. "Marketing and com posting probably are more feasible for most farmers than burning, refeeding and producing Third place and $4O went to Kathy Freehling of Sarver, Butler County. She claims that her Car amel Apple Sheet Pie is “as ugly as sin, but it tastes delicious.” The pic, with the recipe passed down through the Freehling fami ly, placed first at the Butler Farm Show. This is the fourth year that Penn sylvania Marketing Board spon sored the contest. Judges were Roger Snyder from Snyder Insur ance Agency, Richfield; Nee Davis, wife of DER Secretary Art Davis; Kevin Fisher from the Kitchen Shoppe in Carlisle; and Paul Baker from WHP Radio, Harrisburg. Pies are scored on overall appearance and taste of crust and filling. Using the process of elimi nation, each judge chose three pies after sampling IS. The 12 pies cho sen were then sampled by each judge and the winning entries chosen. The first-place recipe is this week’s featured recipe on page 86. Second and third-place recipes are as follows. With her Carmel Apple Pie, Antoinette Fava placed sec ond In the Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Contest. Antoinette and her husband, Joseph, are dairy farmers In Washington County. Farmers Have Manure Managment Alternatives methane." Because of manure's value as a fertilizer, farmers may be able to move excess amounts to other farms, home gardens, landscape operations, nurseries and other agricultural and non-agricultural operations. "Factors affecting this alternative include transportation costs, the manure's nutrient con tent and its ease of handling, which depends on available equipment and the manure’s moisture level. n Graves says. Composting is another alterna tive. "This biological process uses microorganisms to convert the manure into a dry. light, odor-free soil-like product," Graves says. "When other products, such as woodchips, arc added, finished manure compost makes a good mulch. It can be sold either in bags or in bulk as a soil conditioner." Buyers of manure compost include homeowners, landscapers and nursery owners. Compost also may be used on the Cum as a soil conditioner or livestock bedding. “Thanks to the ‘cookers’ who made the pies,” said Sec retary of Agriculture Boyd Wolff as he announces the win ners at the fourth annual apple pie contest held at the Pen nsylvania Farm Show. Wendy Will, Pennsylvania Farm Show Queen, center hands the first prize ribbon to Connie Shuff, who said that she dressed for success by wearing apple Jewelry. Composting is a simple process, but it does have some management and equipment requirements. "Al so, because the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources views manure compost ing facilities as manure storages, the facilities used must meet cer tain design standards," Graves says. Depending on the compost ing method used, it takes three to eight weeks for a properly designed and operated system to compost manure. "Manure also can be used as an alternative energy source," Graves says. "Poultry litter, for instance, can be burned as solid fuel." Penn State researchers have found that poultry litter can contain more than half die heat value of coal. Under certain conditions, a ton of litter is equivalent to 58 gallons of fuel oil, or 7,620 cubic feet of natural gas. "There may be some problems with the burned litter producing slag, and questions remain about gas emissions and ash use," Graves says. CARAMEL APPLE PIE A. Fava W. Alexander Fair Washington Co. Pie crust: 3 cups flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt Rind of 1 lemon VA cups shortening 1 egg 1 tablespoon vinegar Cold water to make V* cup liquid Filling: 16 cups apples Juice of 1 lemon '/i cup apple juice concentrate 2 'A cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 'A teaspoon ginger Make crust Cook apples with juices. Add mixture of sugar, cornstarch and spices. Cook 1 minute. Drain apples. Cook juice until liquid is reduced to at least half. Roll bottom crust. Pour 'A cup melted butter on bottom. Sprinkle with 1 cup brown sugar mixed with 'A tablespoon cornstarch, sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans. Top with drained apples. Add enough juice to fill pie to % . Cover with top crust Flute and make slits. Bake 60 to 65 minutes for 400 degrees. Protect edges with foil. Another option for using man ure for energy is methane produc tion. "A methane digester uses methane-producing bacteria to biologically convert parts of the manure into biogas, a combination of methane and carbon dioxide," says Graves. "The necessary bac teria are present naturally in the manure." "The gas produced by methane digesters can be burned for space heating, drying, cooking or heating water," Graves says. "It also may be used to run an engine and gener ator to produce both heat and electricity." Methane ' digestion reduces manure odors. The digested manure is in a liquid form and contains most of the original fertilizer nutrients and must be PENNSYLVANIA AGRICULTURE Qualtly...From Our Home To Yours Compete CARAMEL APPLE SHEET PIE Caramel topping: 36 caramels 'A cup evaporated milk Cheese topping; 8 ounces cream cheese 1 egg '/] cup sugar Apple filling: 6 cups pared sliced apples 1 cup sugar '/j cup flour 2 tablespoons lemon juice Pastry: 3 cups flour '/< cup sugar l'/i teaspoons salt Vx cup butter 'A cup oil 1 egg 'A cup cold water Vi cup chopped nuts for topping Melt caramel with milk over boiling water. Hold over hot water until needed. Beat cream cheese, egg, and sugar until smooth and set aside. Mix together apples, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Sift together flour, sugar, and salt for pastry. Cut in butter. Blend together oil, egg, and cold water until creamy. Add this to dry ingredients and stir until mixture holds together. Press into a 12x 17-inch sheet pan or three 8-inch round pans. Place apples on pastry. Drizzle caramel in strips over apples. Spoon cheese filling in strips between caramel strips. Top with chopped nuts. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Caught by the camera! Secretary of Agriculture Boyd Wolff tried to sneak this pie out the door by hid ing It under his hat. handled accordingly. Refeeding is another option. "Certain manures can be fed to livestock as a small portion of the ration," Graves says. "Poultry manures contain substantial amounts of fiber and non-protein nitrogen and are better suited for cattle feed than other manures." The manure needs to be pro cessed to increase palatability, improve storage and handling characteristics and destroy patho gens. "Proper processing elimi nates the possibility that disease will be spread to the animals who eat it, or to their meat or milk, Graves says. Ensiling with for ages, drying, composting and treating with chemicals are possi ble processing methods.
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