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THE VICKSBURG POST

W E D N E S D A Y, S E p t E m b E r 19, 2012 • S E C T I O N CT V TONIGHT C5 | CLASSIfIEDS C6

Group helps teach, support parents of preschoolers By Matt Stuartmstuart@vicksburgpost.com

The Vicksburg chapter of Mothers of Preschoolers has marked its 10th anniversary with more than 50 women on hand at Bowmar Bap-tist Church where the group meets.

In 2002, Shelly Tingle founded the chapter of MOPS after attending a meet-ing in Clinton. Since, more than 2,000 Vicksburg moth-ers have taken part in the group’s twice-a-month meet-ings to discuss the unex-pected problems they face.

Tingle said as a young mother each day brought her new challenges and she was determined to establish a support system for local mothers.

“There’s a need here for the mothers,” Tingle said. “A lot of these moms quit their day jobs and focus on being a mom because the preschool years are tough years.

“With parenting, this is where it starts,” she contin-ued. “We live by the mantra, ‘A better mom makes a better world.’”

Kelli Ellison, the current director of Vicksburg MOPS, explained the main function of the group.

“The break from the kids is very important,” Ellison said. “We also fellowship outside the meetings. If you’re new to Vicksburg and have pre-school-aged kids, this is the place to be.”

As a Christian foundation, Ellison described the role that faith plays in MOPS.

“Sometimes we do a devo-tional, but we have prayer journals where mothers can write down their problems and what they need to be

prayed for,” Ellison said.After the prayer journals

are filled out, the mentor mothers step in. Each MOPS chapter features three or more mentor mothers who use their experience, giving guidance to the younger mothers. The mentor moth-ers also pick up the prayer journals, reading each request and offering a prayer for that mother.

Annette Kindhart is in her third year as a mentor mother.

“We’re just helping other moms who might be strug-gling,” Kindhart said.

The group meets at Bowmar Baptist Church, 1825 U.S. 61, to enjoy food,

fellowship and a speaker. The speakers’ topics range from bullying to the financial expenditures that arise with preschool-age children.

The Vicksburg MOPS chap-ter meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month during the school year, from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m.

A $50 registration fee covers the cost of the local chapter with half going to the national organization. The money also goes toward producing Mom Sense, a quarterly magazine high-lighting ongoing themes of MOPS International. Chil-dren may be dropped off at the church’s day care center before the meeting.

Recipes abound for different kinds of slidersFood trends come and go,

but the popularity of “slid-ers” on restaurant menus suggests they’re here to stay. You’ll find seafood sliders, pulled pork sliders, cheese sliders, chicken sliders and more. But are these true slid-ers? Purists would say no.

“A mini hamburger is not a slider,” said Adam Kuban, writer — and slider purist — for the Serious Eats blog (www.seriouseats.com). “A mini burger is just a reduc-tion of the same old thing we already know, however much we may love it. A slider is at once a hamburger and, yet, something more.”

According to Kuban, a slider is a “thin slip of beef cooked on a griddle with onions and pickles piled atop the patty.”

Food etymologist Barry Popik — known for his groundbreaking research on the term “hot dog” — traces the origins of the term to Navy slang from World War II. Although Popik could not find the word “slider” docu-mented in naval archives, conversations with veterans confirmed that the Navy’s notoriously greasy hamburg-ers were jokingly referred to as “sliders,” he said during a recent phone interview from his home in Austin, Texas. A cheeseburger was a “slider with a lid.”

The White Castle fast-food chain did not trademark its small burgers as “Slyders” until the 1990s. About the same time, small patties of beef, fish, seafood, you-name-

it, started appearing as “slid-ers” on the menus of restau-rants of all kinds. Chefs, and patrons, just couldn’t resist.

If you want to make a true slider — “at once a ham-burger and, yet, something more” — try the basic recipe below. I’ve also included some options for gussying them up.

Note: Look for ground beef with a bit of fat in it rather than “lean” or “extra lean.” Slider rolls are sold in many supermarkets. If you can’t find slider rolls, small dinner rolls will work in a pinch.

Basic SlidersYield: 8 sliders, or 4

servings1 pound ground beefSalt and pepper to taste2 tablespoons butter1 large yellow onion, peeled

and sliced16 dill pickle rounds8 slider rolls, cut in half

horizontallyKetchup or mustard, for

serving (optional)Put beef in a large bowl,

season generously with salt and pepper and mix. Form into 8 thin (2-ounce) patties.

Heat a large skillet with a lid over medium heat. (If you don’t have a lid, use a

cookie sheet.) When hot, add butter and swirl until it melts. Add onions and cook, stirring, until they begin to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Place the beef patties on top, cover and cook for a few minutes, until the onions begin to brown. Remove the patties and onions from the skillet. Flip the patties and return to the skillet. Pile onions on top. Layer with pickles and buns (cut-side down). Cover and continue cooking until the meat is done to your liking and the buns are steamed.

Remove buns from the pan and place on a plat-ter. Place 2 pickle slices on the bottom half of each bun.

Add patty and onions. Top with the remaining half of the bun. Serve immediately, with ketchup or mustard, if desired.

Sliders with a lid Make sliders as directed

above. When you flip the pat-ties, top each with half with a 1-ounce slice of American cheese.

Gourmet SlidersMake “sliders with a lid” as

directed above, substituting 4 shallots for the onion; sub-stituting 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese for the Ameri-

can cheese; and omitting the pickles. Top cooked slider with 1 slice of ripe plum tomato and one-half piece of crisp-cooked, thick-cut bacon before adding the top of the bun.

South of the BorderSliders with Mayo

Make basic sliders as directed above, omitting the pickles and adding 2 table-spoons barbecue sauce to the meat before forming the patties. For the spicy mayo: In a bowl, mix ½ cup may-

Applesaucegood enoughfor dinnerBy Elizabeth KarmelThe Associated Press

Each fall, I can’t help myself from buying apples by the bushel. I get so excited by the crisp air and the fresh-from-the-orchard fruit that I inevi-tably buy way too many.

So I end up baking pies and apple cakes. I even sauté fresh sliced apples for breakfast the way my mother did when I was a child. But my hands-down favorite thing to make with my abundance? Homemade applesauce. I love to make homemade applesauce when I want to perk up a less-than-excit-ing meal and impress my dining companions with something unexpectedly delicious.

I toss the apples with lemon juice, a little sugar and cinnamon to season them and keep them from turning brown. I add lemon zest for zing and salt for balance. Then I put the lid on the pot and wait patiently while the apples cook and give up their nat-ural juices. In just 15 to 20 minutes, they are ready to mash and give way easily with a fork or a spoon.

You could serve the applesauce at this stage, but the next step is what makes it exceptional!

Once the apples are cooked down to a rough mash, I add just enough sweet butter to round out the tart acidity of the apples. Then I add a splash of cognac or apple brandy to add a depth of flavor. The mixture is then brought to a boil and sim-mered for 5 minutes until all of the raw alcohol is cooked away, leaving just the fabulous flavor. And that is the secret to the best homemade apple-sauce you’ve ever tasted!

It’s old-fashioned and new-fangled all at once and every time I serve it with roasted chicken or grilled pork chops, the resounding opinion is that the applesauce was the best part of the meal.

This recipe is easily halved or doubled. What you don’t eat warm, you can refrigerate and eat “leftover” for a week. It is the perfect recipe for all those leftover apples from your apple-picking adventures.

Spiked Side DishApplesauce

I like to cook the apples until they are tender, but still irregular in shape and a bit chunky. And since this is a side dish and not a dessert, I don’t use very much sugar, just enough to pull out the flavor of the

Kelli Ellison, director of the Bowmar Mothers of Preschoolers group, picks up her 1-year-old daughter, Kaylan, following a meeting. Kaylan’s father is Chuck Ellison.

From left, director Kelli Ellison, Denise Ratliff, Jennifer Agyepong and Jeanine Hall, sit together during a group discus-sion at a Bowmar Mothers of Preschoolers meeting at Bowmar Baptist Church. The Bowmar MOPS group is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

filE•The Vicksburg PosT

If you goThe Vicksburg Mothers of Preschoolers chapter meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month during the school year, from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m. at Bowmar Baptist Church, 1825 U.S. 61. There is a $50 registration fee.

The associaTed Press

A basic slider

ThIS wEEk’SrECIpE Motherly advice

See Applesauce, Page C3. See Sliders, Page C2.

MARIALISACALTA