When Hope Durst was a little girl, the owner of her day care decided to make a cookbook featuring all of the children’s favorite foods. While most children chose macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, or other similar foods, Durst chose her mother’s apple torte.
“It’s always been a favorite of mine,” Durst said. “It’s nostalgic.”
So when Durst received the news that the late longtime Country Store Bake Sale organizer Rita Douglass had chosen her family to be the face of the 62nd annual event on Tuesday, she knew she wanted to share her mother’s apple torte recipe with the community.
“After Rita passed away suddenly in the spring of ‘24, I received an email from someone at The Commercial Dispatch saying that Rita had left detailed notes of who was to be featured for the Thanksgiving 2024 family,” Durst said. “And she had listed my name and my children’s names.”
Durst said the bake sale, hosted by the Association for the Preservation of Antiquities in Columbus, is one of her favorite Columbus traditions, as it always comes around just in time for Thanksgiving. The sale will once again be located at and benefit the Stephen D. Lee Home, located at 316 Seventh St. N.
Volunteers prepare hundreds of baked goods annually for the sale, including made-from-scratch cakes, cookies, pies, rolls, candies, breads, cheese straws, jellies and more.
Co-head Docent of the Lee Home and treasurer of the Antiquities society Pam Bullock said shoppers may come to the bake sale beginning at 8 a.m. to pick up a number and preview items for sale. Admittance will begin at 10 a.m., with shoppers admitted by number in groups of five.
The money raised by the bake sale will go toward the maintenance and repairs of the Lee Home, Bullock said. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“The importance of the bake sale is just to continue to raise money so we can continue to keep it updated and open to the public, for other future generations to get to enjoy the home,” Bullock said.
The Lee Home houses the Florence McLeod Hazard exhibiting Civil War collections and artifacts. During most of the year, it is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Friday, or by appointment. Free tours will also be available until noon on Tuesday during the bake sale.
The house is also available for rental, according to the Visit Columbus website.
While the house was originally completed in 1847, a December 1959 fire heavily damaged the antebellum landmark, then being used as a junior high school home economics building. The house was restored in 1960.
“It’s a way that we can come together to continue preserving the home that a lot of us have gone to school in,” Bullock said. “… A lot of us have gone to school there, a lot of us have connections there. A lot of us had weddings there.”
The bake sale also allows the society to share traditional foods with others just in time for Thanksgiving. Durst made her mother’s apple torte for the first time in anticipation of the bake sale. Though it was her first attempt, it got generally positive reactions from her children, Mary Hampton Durst, 12, Maggie Durst, 10 and Coy Durst, 7.
“My favorite part is the appley taste more than the cream cheese,” Mary Hampton said.
Durst said she uses the bake sale every year to pick up last-minute additions to her Thanksgiving feast, along with other traditions as well.
“Our favorite Thanksgiving family tradition is watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade,” Durst said. “So we like to have a big, good breakfast while we sit on the couch and watch that. So we get cinnamon rolls and cheese straws and nuts, that kind of thing. But then they have pies and cakes and fudge and all the other heavy desserts.”
A drawing will also be held Tuesday to win a seasonal centerpiece arranged by Betty Waters. The $1 tickets can be purchased at the sale. For more information on the bake sale, follow the Stephen D. Lee Home & Museum on Facebook. The bake sale accepts cash or check only.
In anticipation of the bake sale, Durst shared her mother’s apple torte recipe. Her grandmother’s cheese straw recipe is also available online at cdispatch.com. Both, she said, are great fall treats, similar to those available at Tuesday’s bake sale.
Apple Torte
(From the kitchen of Wanda Holley)
Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/3 cup plus 4 Tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
1 cup flour
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups peeled Granny Smith apples, sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Directions
• Cream margarine, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla; blend in flour. Spread mixture over bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 9 inch springform pan.
• Cream together the cream cheese and four Tablespoons sugar. Blend in egg and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. n Spread mixture evenly over crust. Combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Toss apples in the mixture. Spread over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle almonds on top.
• Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake 40 minutes longer. Loosen rim and cool before removing from the pan.
• Top with whipped cream or serve plain.
Cheese Straws
From the kitchen of Leonor Lopez Sloan)
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of red pepper
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
3/4 pound New York sharp cheese
Directions
• Blend butter and cheese until smooth. Add dry ingredients. Press through cookie press and cut into 1 1/2 inch length. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
