Apple Brown Betty: The Experiment
You can’t really screw this one up unless you walk away and let it burn.
Picture it: Tennessee, November 2023…
A middle-aged nutcase is scrolling the internet like crazy, trying to find her yearly contribution dish to the holiday meal. Scorned by the disaster of the spinach roll things from last year, she was on the culinary warpath for a dish that was both simple and cost-effective. She needed something that could easily satisfy all the palettes at the table without doing the most. Suddenly, the image of one Peggy Hill of Arlen, Texas flooded her brain.
Three words: Apple Brown Betty.
She has never made one. She has heard of them and has had her share of them. Blame her Midwestern heritage. (No matter what her ex says, Illinois and the city of Chicago ARE in the Midwest.)
Anyway…
The recipe meant breaking the golden rule of Thanksgiving across the board (Black homes, homes in the South, multi-generational homes, and homes with seasoned chefs): experimentation during the holidays. What did that one lady say about experimentation during Thanksgiving? The recipe would either make or break her reputation. She felt a deep connection with her departed mother and paternal grandmother through cooking. A failed dish, to her, was like failing her ancestors.
She gathered her ingredients, peeling apples while the Macy’s Parade was in full swing. She processed her mix of spices, sugar, and butter, praying to the culinary gods that it would work out. Granted the top layer looked…um…interesting….her experimentation ended up being the talk of the meal.
She got the wrong apples, but doggone it everyone ate the dang dessert! That’s a win, baby!
Thank you, Jocelyn Delk Adams and Peggy Hill.
About the Authoress: Veronica is a native Chicagoan currently living in the small town of Paris, TN. By daylight, she is a self-published writer of maudlin and reflective poetry. By nightfall, she’s the reason why Mountain Dew and Full Throttle stay in business. When she isn’t working the late night shift for Telus AI International, you can find her on Medium and Instagram terrorizing the local citizens. [Contact Info]
