Of Groaning Sideboards and Apple Pan Dowdy

One November, when my husband and I were still fresh-faced newlyweds, we traveled from Oregon to Missouri to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family. At the time, they lived next door to her in-laws (Southern transplants!) and I was so excited to introduce them to my new husband.

 My sister’s mother-in-law, Arlene, is every bit the true Southern belle. And as we gathered together at their home to celebrate this day of thanks we knew we were in for a culinary treat. But, nothing could have prepared us for the moment when we turned the corner into their dining room and feasted our eyes on the sideboard.

Every kind of dessert and you could ever dream of or imagine graced the top of it and it was in that very moment that I understood and appreciated the phrase “groaning sideboard”.

 My wonderful born and bred in the Pacific NW husband had a look on his face that gave me a glimpse of what he must have looked like as a child coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head and I know he saw the turkey and trimmings as merely things to be “gotten through” so that he could then turn his attention to the glorious treats that awaited him.

 So, it only made sense that when I realized I had apples I needed to use up (thanks to my daughter’s apple orchard field trip!) I would turn to the woman who knows how to do dessert like nobody else.

I didn’t just want to make an apple pie, or apple turnovers or apple muffins. I wanted something a bit different. Sweet but not too sweet. Maybe with a little bit of ‘bite’ to it.

I had a sneaking suspicion that I would find what I was looking for in one of Miss Arlene’s cookbooks!

And of course, I did!

It was just the right amount of sweet mixed with the richness of the molasses and layers of spices which made the whole house smell divine.

My dining room isn’t big enough for a true sideboard. A little narrow table doesn’t quite qualify.

But, that’s ok because I don’t think that I would ever be able to compete with the wonder that was Arlene’s “groaning” Southern sideboard…and the hospitality that came along with it!