High Time for Pie

It was spring and my rhubarb, which is now a distant memory, was still growing like gang busters and a flyer came in the mail from my church about a pie potluck.  What type of pie to make? I wondered to myself.  I then, remember a great jam a friend of mine made years ago, rhubarb blueberry.  So off to the store to buy Pillsbury refrigerator pie crust (the rolling pin and I do not get along well) and frozen blueberries.  Once, I arrived back home I picked some rhubarb and was off to mixing and baking.  I snagged the recipe off the internet and if you are eager to reproduce my endeavors you can find one there too.

I chopped the rhubarb into small bits, added blueberries, sugar, and tapioca and let it sit for awhile.  I lined a pie pan with the Pillsbury crust and then added the mixture add the top crust and let my imagination and knife skills run wild.  I then popped the whole thing in the oven and awhile latter out came a pie.

I must admit that the pie never it to the church pie potluck,   I feed it to my family at family brunch.  They all proclaimed it good.  However I thought it needed a little something and that something was the orange zest I forgot.  Oh well, it was still good.

Here We Go Again, CSA Year Two

    It was the third week of July and I finally mustered my energy and ordered my CSA subscription.  It only took a couple of trips to the insanely  busy local farmers market to convince me, sometimes I just hate crowns and of course deciding what to buy.  By joining the CSA I ovoid both and still get yummy fresh vegetables.  I'm using Arlington Garden Treasures again this year and encourage everyone to check them out.  I will again try and blog about what comes in my bi-weekly box, wish me luck.

CSA Week One:

Let the mystery begin..

Drum roll please....

My first box had swiss chard, raspberries, tomatoes, beats, cauliflower, onions, garlic, zucchini and the only thing I didn't recognize....

What is it?

I wasn't feeling to adventurous so I sauteed down the swiss chard with bacon, sausage, onions and garlic, grilled the zucchini, ate the tomatoes in salad and sliced, steamed the cauliflower, the beets are waiting to roasted and the raspberries, well that is a story for another day.  So what was the unidentified green stuff?  It was purslane aka pig weed, that's right a weed.  I guess you eat it like lettuce but since I'm very picky about my lettuce, it is moldered in the fridge.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

TTFN everyone!

This ain't no instant pudding.

Well it is, but at least it doesn't come from a box.

Rhubarb season is upon us and mine is trying to take over my porch steps. 

One evening, as it was growing, I had one of those weird compulsions and I had, I mean had, to cook something with my rhubarb. I didn't feel like taking the time to make jam, I didn't have all the ingredients to make BBQ sauce and I didn't feel like cake so what did that leave? Pudding, yes pudding and it was good.  More importantly it was quick and easy.  I found the recipe on the internet and made a few changes.  Since the pudding was a little loose (my Mom said it was fine), next time I would add a little more corn starch or maybe tapioca.  Hmmmmm, tapioca is a great idea.

Rhubarb Pudding

1 3/4 cups water
3/4 + cups sugar
1.5 lbs rhubarb cut into small pieces
3Tlbs corn starch mixed with 1/4 c. water to create slurry
1/2 tps vanilla

Heat water and sugar together in a pot until boiling and the sugar disolves.  Then add rhubarb and cook while stirring until rhubarb is soft (about 10 minutes).  Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth and return to pot and taste, adding more sugar if needed.  The add the corn starch slurry and return to a boil stirring constantly for about a minute.  Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.  Transfer to serving dishes and refrigerate. Serve cold with whipped cream and enjoy!

Attack of the Giant Beet Part 2

A couple of posts ago you saw the Giant Beet.  I know you have lost many a night’s sleep, wondering what ever happen to it.  It gave its life nobly for a great pot of borsch.  

 

Yummmm!

Unless you hate beets and potatoes

CSA Reflections

Today I was readying my yard for the coming of Spring and noticed the garlic I planted last fall from my CSA box is coming up and my mind wandered back to the last few CSA boxes of the fall.  

For many years, I had thought of participating in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) but never pulled the trigger for multiple reasons.  Finally I came across a CSA that fit my needs and I jumped in.  I decided to use Arlington Garden Treasures.  They offered a pick up location very close and very convenient to my home and an every other week box that looked prefect for a single, CSA/vegetable virgin.

 I strongly believe in supporting the local food movement and small farmers for many reasons.  I feel that the food they provide is healthier, fresher and better tasting. I also believe in the importance of the biodiversity in our food chain that they provide.  I feel that small local farmers preserving important land, skills and knowledge that large scale agriculture ignores,  much to our potential detriment.  Also a CSA is a fun easy way to be forced to eat more vegetables, cook at home and try new things.   All in all this experiment was a success and I will most likely participate again this coming summer.

Box Six

Box Seven

The Final Box

Preparing the bounty of the final box.

Enjoy!

CSA Box Week Five and the Attack of the Beet!

Friday night, on the way to some good friends for dinner.  I stopped and picked up my fourth CSA box and wondered what treasures were with in.

And the treasures were...

It held a bag of mixed greens, a bag of green beans, a bunch of onions, a bunch of carrots, a pint of tomatoes, random peppers, potatoes, two apples, garlic and the worlds largest beet!

Not many huge plans for this box.  I'll eat the mixed greens as salad and on burgers and sandwiches.  I'll maybe freeze and pickle the beans and peppers  for later.  But the BEET, I will make borscht.

Collard Green Lasagna

Way back in box two there was a big bunch of collard greens. I wasn't sure what to do with them. So I searched the internet and came across a recipe for lasagna.  The recipe substituted collard greens for some of the noodles.  I never realized how easy lasagna was to make.  So here we go...

The ingredients are very simple, collard greens, no boil lasagna, ricotta, Parmesan and sauce.  My go to sauce is Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara.  I use it for spaghetti and for pizza. 

 I cut down the collard's to fit the pan.

 I blanched the collards in boiling water.

The I stopped the cooking in ice water and then I dried them off.

  Let the assembly begin!

 sauce

 pasta, ricotta

 collards, sauce, Parmesan.  Then repeat!

 

The final product!.

I haven't eaten it yet.  I put the cover on and popped it in the freezer and I am waiting for a nice fall day.  When the time comes, I will bake it at 350 until done.  I wonder how it will taste?