Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Here's another super yummy Rhubarb recipe that has become my new favorite!  I made it for my family for Father's Day.  My family was a little hesitant because we are new to Rhubarb but it got rave reviews and I will definitely be making this one again and again!  I altered it just slightly from King Arthur Flour's Recipe.  Let's get baking!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

First Go Here to get the crust recipe and tutorial.  I modified the crust recipe just slightly by adding 1 cup of fresh ground flour that was a mix of Kamut and Hard White wheat, then added 1 1/2 cups white flour, to give a total of 2 1/2 cups flour.  My family couldn't tell the difference and I snuck in some whole grain.  Sa-weet!

Next wash and slice up the rhubarb into small pieces.  I sliced down the center and then cross-wise every 1/2 inch or so.You will need 3 1/2 cups diced Rhubarb.

Hull and quarter 3 cups of Strawberries.

In a mixing bowl combine the following:

1 1/4 cups sugar

5 Tbsp instant ClearJel (you can find it here, or at your local food storage store)

1/4 tsp salt

Whisk together, then add in

3 1/2 cups diced Rhubarb

3 cups quartered Stawberries

(frozen for either or both is OK)

Cover and let sit in the fridge while you finish getting the crust ready.

After making the crust recipe, let sit in fridge for about 20-30 min.  Lay out plastic wrap and sandwich the dough in between to roll it out.

I love this method because it prevents you from touching or adding more flour to the crust, plus clean up is a snap!

Put your dough in a 9 inch pan and flute the edges.  Cover the pan with plastic and put in the fridge until the oven is ready.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

When the oven is ready, pull out the crust and filling.  Put the filling in the crust, dot the top with about 1 Tbsp butter and using the left over dough cut out shapes and place on top of pie.  Brush dough with water.

Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes or until filling is bubbling and crust is lightly browned.

You might want to add a cookie sheet on the rack below the pies to catch any drips.  I forgot that step and got to clean my oven the next day.  No worries.  Now I have a clean oven and pie.  Yessss!

Remove from oven and let cool for about an hour before serving to allow the fruit filling to set.

 Strawberries and Rhubarb!
The rhubarb holds its shape well and isn't mushy.

It was a super yummy sweet/tart perfect combination!

Beadboard and Pennies

I needed a way to display my Father's Day Present.  Here's what I came up with.  The best part is I only had to pay for the pictures.  

Let's get started.  First I taped off the sections of the beadboard.  Be sure the edges are secure.

 My tape was a little wider than the section of beadboard so I used one side of my scissors to trim the excess off.

 Press firmly with your fingernail or bone folder.  Paint each section.  I alternated black and white with 2 coats each.

I found pennies that were the same year of each of my kids birthdays, along with my anniversary.  Then I drilled a hole in each of the pennies.

 Next, I stamped each kid's inital on their penny using my stamping set I got from Harbor Freight.  For our anniversary penny I did our initials and an Ampersand.  ie. n&s.

 Next get about 6 inches beading wire.

Start a loop and hold with beading pliers.

 Hold loop flat and wrap the wire around clockwise turning the loop as you go.

 Keep turning until you get the coil you want.

 Thread wire through penny holding coil on front of penny.

 Wrap wire once through the hole on the penny.

 Wrap wire around bottom of frame pressing wire into grooves of the frame so the glass will fit.  Twist wire around first strand and coil again as on the front.  Use a hammer to lightly tap the coils to set them.

 I used my staple gun to staple the ribbon to the back of the frame.

 I heavily sanded the beadboard after the paint dried then added a wooden knob near the top which I also painted black and distressed.

 Here's the top with the ribbon.

I love how they turned out!

A Quick Up-cycled Skirt

Here's a super quick and cute project and all you need is an old t-shirt, thread and elastic.  And about 20 minutes.  

How's that  for quick!

Determine the length you want and cut the shirt. It's OK if the sleeves are in there.  If there's sleeves in the way, trim them out and seam up the sides.  It will make it more A-line.

Next I cut several circles of 2 sizes and used some white fabric I had left over.

 Pin them in place and stitch down.  I did X's and one line straight through the center but get creative.

 Add elastic to the waist and you're done.  I kept the band hem at the bottom of the shirt so I didn't even have to hem the skirt.

Super quick and cute.

It was so easy, 

I think I'll do one for me too!

Rhubarb Crumble

I am a Rhubarb newbie.

If you would have asked me to pick out some Rhubarb at the Farmers Market 2 months ago, I couldn't have done it to save my life.  I've heard the word before, but that's as far as it went.

I can't believe I've lived this long and have missed out on Rhubarb the whole time!

 It's that weird Red Celery looking stuff, and it is SOOO Yummy!

I found this easy Rhubarb Crumble recipe that uses whole wheat and oats.  What a tasty way to incorporate whole grains!  Let's get to it!


Rhubarb Crumble

 Wash and cut up the rhubarb into small pieces.  I sliced down the center, then cut the other way about every 1/2 inch.

 You will need 4 cups of diced rhubarb.

Grind some hard white wheat.  I threw in some quinoa too.  You'll need just under 1 cup of fresh ground grains.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Filling:
4 cups diced rhubarb
3/4 cup - 1 cup sugar depending on how sweet you want it.  I felt like 1 cup was a little too much.
4 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tsp orange or lemon zest.  I used lemon.
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

 Mix together thoroughly and pour into greased 8 inch square pan or a 9 inch pie pan.  Spread evenly.

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp molasses
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

 Mix topping together and spread over Rhubarb mixture.

 Bake for about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Serve hot or cold, topped with Whipped Cream or Ice Cream, or just by itself.  You could even eat it for breakfast, or a special brunch.

Seriously!  It's that good!
Oh Rhubarb, now that I've found you, I'll never forget you! I promise!

Cowboy Cookies - Sneaky Style!

I love being sneaky!  Especially with cookies.  Once again I turn to King Arthur Flour.  This is their recipe and I adjusted it just slightly to incorporate more whole grains.

I'm kind of on a whole ancient grain kick right now.  Learning about all the different grains, and how to use them has been fun.  Plus it's an easy way to increase the nutritional content of stuff by changing things around with grains other than just wheat... well and quinoa since I've been using that a ton lately, like here, here, and here.

Here's the 3 grains I used in my Cowboy cookies.  One is wheat.  Can you guess which one?

This one is hard white wheat.  Did you guess right?

This one is called Kamut.  Said just like it's written.  It's an ancient grain that was found in the Pyramids, and thought to have been on Noah's Ark.  Because of the larger kernal it is considered the Energy Grain and  has a high mineral content with selenium(anti-oxidant), zinc and magnesium. It also looses little nutritional content when processed.

 The last of the 3 is Millet.  It's an almost perfect protein and is high in calcium and fiber.

 You can't easily find these grains in your local grocery store. Costco doesn't even carry them :(  But if you find a whole food store or food storage store, they will have it.

Now for the cookies.

Cowboy Cookies

Grind 1 cup hard white wheat, 1/2 cup kamut, and 1/2 cup millet.  Feel free to change up the grains.  You need a total of 2 cups whole grain flour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the following:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
Mix until smooth.

Beat in 3 large eggs one at a time.
Then add 1 Tbsp vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together: 
2 cups freshly ground whole grain flour 
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt 

Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture.  Stir until just blended.  Then add:
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3 cups chocolate chips, or favorite baking chips
2 cups sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups toasted pecan pieces, or other nut of your choice (optional)
Stir to combine and drop small balls of dough on parchment paper either on a cookie sheet, or use pizza peel to bake on pizza stone. (the pizza stone is my preferred method)

Bake for 12-15 minutes or til desired doneness.

This is a large batch and will yeild 2 1/2 dozen large cookies or 7 1/2 dozen small cookies.

A super yummy semi-healthy snack!

Plus it's sneaky nutrition!  Bonus!