Rhubarb Jam for 85 Cents

These are glorious days. We've had lots of rain (too much, some would say). The earth is warm and all the gardens, along with their weeds, are growing with wild abandon. When I'm outside with the baby, I give up on getting any work done. He runs for the road as often as not, cackling with joy as his strong little legs carry him towards disaster. I am constantly scooping him up and taking him to safety.  

When I do get outside alone to garden, the task is daunting. I'm just chipping away, doing what I can.
I moved this Strawberry Rhubarb plant to the big garden. It's a delicate variety and it won't take over. In fact, it needs a fair amount of fertilizing in order to thrive. I harvested a bit of it and added it to the bigger stalks of rhubarb that my mom gave me. 

Here in Minnesota, rhubarb should be free. It slays me when I see it for sale at the grocery store. Surely a neighbor or a friend has rhubarb to share. If not, plant some, quick, and you'll enjoy it forever. It freezes beautifully, so it can be enjoyed all year long.   

I wasn't going to make jam this year, but with the rhubarb from my mom, I had so much that I decided to whip up a quick double batch. This recipe is shameful, full of sugar, and ridiculously easy. I got six jars of jam for under $5.00, so I figured that came to about 85 cents per jar. This week we are living on hot buttered toast with jam. It's delicious and summery, piquant and bright. There's nothing in the world like the taste of rhubarb.

Rhubarb-Pineapple-Raspberry Jam

6 cups finely chopped rhubarb
3 cups sugar (I used scant cups and it turned out fine)
1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple, with juice

Combine above ingredients in a large pot, stirring, and cook on medium heat. Cook for at least one hour, turning heat down if mixture starts to boil too much.

After one hour, turn off heat and add:

1 pkg. raspberry Jello (with sugar)

Stir well till all the Jello is incorporated.

Pour into jars and seal.

(I don't seal my jars, but keep half the jars in the frig, since we eat it up so quickly, and the other half in the freezer).

In other rhubarb news, today I'm making the Pie Bars for a grad party tomorrow. If you haven't made them, I promise you, they are beyond delicious. We decided it's because they are more like lemon bars with rhubarb. So in other words, the best, most original lemon bars we've ever tasted.  Here is the link.   

Perfect Little Bowls

I now have two of these vintage Pyrex mixing bowls.
They are just right for making Oatmeal Crepes every morning.
Ah breakfast, every morning we welcome you.

Find the recipe here.

Perfect Pie Crust || Baby's First Pie

Nine inches of snow fell yesterday, and we are stuck inside again.
Today I decided to make a pie for my son.
It's coconut cream, because that's the recipe my friend Jackie requested.
(Sorry Dad. The one pie you won't eat).

Perfect Pie Crust
(adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook)

One-crust pie (10- inch)

Heat oven to 475 degrees F.

1/2 cup shortening (I use half butter-flavor Crisco and half lard)
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 Tb. cold water (place ice in the water, plus 1-2 tsp. vinegar)

Cut shortening into flour and salt until fine and crumbly (a pastry blender works best). 
Sprinkle in ice water, 1 Tb. at a time, until dough starts to come together.
Don't forget the vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar), as this is what makes the pastry so flaky.
Gather pastry into a ball, place on plastic wrap.
Form into a hockey-puck shape, wrap the plastic tightly around pastry, freeze for about 1/2 hour.

Remove pastry from freezer, unwrap.
Place dough on well-floured surface.
Roll to desired thickness. I like my crust very thin, but you'll see what happens to it.....
Roll the pastry around your rolling pin.
Transfer to pie plate (Glass pie plates produce the best crusts. Cheap at thrift stores!).
Smooth into place, and form an edge to flute as you like.
If making a baked pie crust, poke bottom of crust with fork (about 10 times) to release steam.
(If filling and baking a raw crust, do not poke crust).

If you have a nine-inch pie plate, you'll have quite a bit of dough left over. You can either make a tiny pie, or just place the rolled scraps on a cookie sheet, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar, and bake them. They will be done in about five minutes.

Bake pie shell for 8-10 minutes on top rack.

Cool on cooling rack for best results

 Malachi makes sure I measure out the ice water perfectly.

 It's easy to get a perfect hockey puck if you use the plastic wrap to help form the dough.

 Time out for a hug! 

 I use lots of flour, but still the crust gets a little weird sometimes.

 This rolling pin is only $10 at Crate & Barrel. What a deal.

 I made two crusts today, and the first one turned out perfectly.

The second one stuck to the rolling pin.

Don't re-roll your pastry.

Just patch it in, it will still be the best pie crust you've ever tasted.

 Patched!

Fill your pie with your favorite recipe for pie filling.

Our all-time fave is fresh raspberry, from berries we pick that day, but peanut butter is great too.

Here's the recipe for Coconut Cream Filling: 

2/3 cup sugar

5 T. corn starch

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups milk

4 eggs yolks, slightly beaten, in a large bowl 

2 T. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cup shredded coconut (or flaked, if you prefer to chew your coconut)

1 cup whipped cream, slightly sweetened

Mix sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium saucepan.

Whisk in milk, stir constantly over medium heat.

Bring to boil, boil one minute.

Ladle half of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, pouring it in slowly and stirring or whisking till blended.

Stir the egg mixture back into the mixture in the saucepan.

Bring to boil, stir one minute, remove from heat.

Stir in butter, vanilla, and 1 cup of coconut.

Pour into pie shell.

Cover with plastic wrap so filling doesn't form a crust.

Chill at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, remove plastic wrap, top with whipped cream, sprinkle with coconut.

(I toasted the coconut first in a skillet).

 He very much wanted to grab the pie.

 Look how flaky that crust is. Hard to catch the tender deliciousness in a photograph. 

 My little photog got the first piece!

Malachi is ready with his two spoons.  
   

Yum.

You may also like this post: Shower for Baby Annali

Chocolate-Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

 A few years ago, I let my sister and her friends borrow our house for a party (my house was in the right location), and while they partied, my girls and I escaped to my friend Ruth's house.  She fed us these cookies and I could not stop eating them. My sister's friends are some of my favorite people in the world, and they thanked me handsomely.  But these cookies were a great reward.

Preheat oven to 325.

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Beat the above ingredients well, at least 3 or 4 minutes, scraping sides of mixing bowl as needed.

To that mixture, add:

1 cup almond meal

1 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup chopped Craisins, or dried cherries

1 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out cookies onto parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet.

Dip a glass in sugar, and press each cookie flat.

Bake for a LONG TIME, about 20 min.

If you like, drizzle with melted chocolate when cool.

Hide the cookies, or they will be gone in about 10 minutes.