America's Champion Cook (1977)

from her own yellow delicious apple tree in Burlington Iowa Mrs Fred Curts picked seven apples that will go into a pie all other pie makers now please stand aside for this will be the latest competition entry by Mrs Fred CTS of Burlington Iowa America's Champion cook [Music] one cup of sifted flour A3 of a cup of shortening 1 teaspoon of baking powder a/4 of a teaspoon of salt and enough milk to make a dough easy as apple pie that's what it is apple pie sprinkle the dough with flour roll to qu inch thickness prepare the bottom crust in a pie [Music] plate seal it with egg white to avoid a soggy crust [Music] pre-bake the crust in a 375° oven for 10 minutes this is the American tradition apple pie but there is something special about this particular pie watch Mrs Curts Peels and cuts her apples into quarters she adds 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 2/3 of a cup of sugar puts it a top the Apple [Music] quarters dots with butter Sprinkles with brown sugar and 1/2 cup of cream yes this apple pie is different Mrs CTS bakes it in a 375° preheated oven for 45 to 60 [Music] Minutes it comes out bubbling hot spicy sweet a pie of pies [Music] a greased muffin pan Heralds a batch of Mrs Kurtz's Championship muffins and a chance for you to Glimpse some of her cooking Secrets two cups of all-purpose flour two teaspoons of baking powder sifted and then mixed with one cup of sweet milk one egg a/ teaspoon of salt 4 tbsp of sugar and 4 tbsp of melted shortening she beats only enough to mix well does this Lively working Widow of the Midwest look like a typical American housewife and her busy kitchen that she does she has no servants no trick equipment no fancy tools to work with she bakes her muffins in a preheated 425° oven for 15 to 20 minutes the results are beautiful to see and magnificent to eat Mrs CTS has won more blue ribbons for her Foods than any woman in American [Music] history easy fudge she calls it for her sweet toothed friends who are continually dropping in Mrs CTS chops one cup of nuts she Heats 1/3 cup of evaporated milk and 2 tbsp of butter in a pan she takes it from the range and stirs in a/2 cup of cocoa one lound of sifted powdered sugar a few drops of cream one teaspoon of vanilla and the Cho nuts she stirs it well and that's it no cooking at all just a little treat to slip in between more serious creations [Music] like her peach cobbler Mrs CTS measures one cup of flour as carefully as any teenage homec student she reads her own recipes with care never tries to memorize them 2 teaspoons of baking powder 3/4 of a cup of sugar half a cup of [Music] milk a pinch of salt all go into the batter together for [Music] beating now she Peels and slices peaches from her farm near montro Iowa she fills a baking dish with them then she sweetens them adds 2 tablespoons of flour and dots with butter now Mrs kurts pours the batter over the peaches and bakes it 45 minutes in a moderate oven [Music] Mrs Curts likes to peek especially at her peach cobbler because just before it's done she adds 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a tablespoon of butter [Music] Mrs kurts grows most of her own fruit for baking and preserving and most of the vegetables occasionally she enters her flowers in competition in the countless County State and National fairs where she's been known as the champion for 25 years she lives alone and keeps up a full-time office position at a local electronics plant all her cooking and preserving happen in spare time that often means the small hours of the morning there's a special Pride that goes with a making of pocketbook rolls Mrs kurts thought up this variation of her prize-winning biscuits and her husband always loved them in their happy years together he was really her inspiration the two met at the old Tri State Fair here in Burlington he was a leading livestock and Agricultural exhibitor and his future wife a culinary exhibitor theirs was indeed a blue ribbon marriage here Mrs Curts makes a dough of 2 cups of sifted flour a/ teaspoon of salt 2 teaspoons of baking powder 3/4 of a cup of milk and 1 tbsp of shortening she works in the shortening and adds milk gradually until a soft dough is formed she Kneads Lightly for 2 to 3 minutes then the dough is rolled into a/4 in thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter [Music] Mrs kurts Butters each future pocketbook roll FS it double and presses the edges together [Music] neatly the rolls go into a greased pan and their tops are brushed with butter [Music] the oven is 450° preheated for 15 to 20 minutes of baking see don't they look like little purses Mrs CTS asks while Mrs kurts is truly hospitable everyone doesn't get to look over her shoulder as she prepares her Specialties her final demonstration will be an unusual and complex one black walnut Christmas bread first she drains carefully 3/4 of a cup of chopped Marino cherries then she creams together a/2 cup of shortening and 3/4 of a cup of sugar until fluffy she beats two eggs and stirs them in well now she sips together three cups of sifted enriched flour 4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt the cherries and nuts are dredged in 1/4 cup of flour alternately she adds the flour and 1 and 1/4 cups of milk to the creamed mixture then Mrs Kurt stirs in the cherries and nuts it all goes into a 5x 9 in greased loaf pan and then to a 350 degree preheated oven for about an [Music] hour the result is a very Merry Christmas this is how Mrs Fred CTS of Burlington Iowa spends her free time the ribbons pile up through the years to decorate wall hangings scrapbooks or simply lie Loosely in boxes how many are there Mrs Curts has won more than 2,500 ribbons for her excellence in the kitchen more than 1,500 of them blue ribbons judges All Over America find her work to be superior in texture color appearance and taste it's taken her 25 years and she's loved every minute of it w [Music]