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McConnell's Mill State Park, Pennsylvania

Rhubarb Raspberry Pie and Pate Brisee

Saturday's harvest from the backyard gave me the ingredients for my all-time favorite rhubarb treat - Rhubarb Raspberry Pie. I'm still harvesting rhubarb and now the red raspberries we transplanted 5 years ago are starting to ripen, plus we have wild blackberry and black raspberry bushes surrounding our yard at the edge of the woods. The crust (Pate Brisee) recipe comes from The Martha Stewart Cookbook. Martha taught me many things, but I'm most grateful for the food processor method for making pie crust.



I found a large silicone pastry mat in King Arthur Flour catalog that makes rolling out the dough a breeze and has measurements to ensure you're rolling the dough into a circle that's just the right size.





and now I'll tell you my secret to a scrumtious, crunchy crust...brush the top with heavy cream or egg wash (whisked mixture of an egg and one teaspoon of water) and sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar.  Add a picnic with fabulous friends and you've got perfection!



Pate Brisee
Adapted from the Martha Stewart Cookbook

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup ice water

Place flour, sugar and salt in the food processor and pulse to combine. Slice the cold butter into the processor and pulse about 10 pulses until mixture has only small lumps of butter. Add ice water slowly while pulsing until the mixture just comes together in the food processor and doesn't fall apart when you squeeze some into your hand. Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap, divide in half, and shape each half into a flat circle. Wrap each circle in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes or up to a day.

Raspberry Rhubarb Pie
Adapted from the Junior League Centennial Cookbook

1 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch
1/2 tsp grated orange or lemon zest
2 cups, fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups fresh or unthawed frozen raspberries
2 T butter

Preheat the oven to 425. Line a pie plate with pastry. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and citrus zest in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine the raspberries and rhubarb. Add sugar mixture to the fruit mixture and stir gently to combine. Place the mixture into the pie plate and dot with butter. Cover with top crust and seal and flute the edges. Brush top with heavy cream or beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake 45 minutes or until crust is browned and the filling is bubbly. Cover pie with foil during baking if the crust is getting too browned.

Classic Buttermilk Waffles

It was Sunday night and my kids asked, "What do we have to do tomorrow?". I had to think for a moment because lately we've been running to something every night. Last week it was dance dress rehearsals, pool parties, baseball playoffs and music lessons. Wouldn't you know, we had nothing on the calendar yesterday...we could do whatever we want! Annie asked if it could be movie day and that got the ball rolling into a weekly schedule for summer vacation. Here it is:

Monday: Movie night
Tuesday: Outside Day (I hope it doesn't rain!)
Wednesday: Game night
Thursday: Baking Day
Friday: Reading Night
Saturday: Random
Sunday: Family Outing Day

I was quite impressed with this schedule of events they came up with without my help. I'm sure it will help with an otherwise unstructured summer.

So here's how our first day of summer vacation went: I had to wake the girls up at 10am! (pooped out after a long dance recital on Sunday). We made delicious Belgian waffles with real maple syrup for breakfast (see recipe below). The kids spent almost an hour taking turns jumping off my bed onto a mound of pillows on the floor while listening to loud dance music. We couldn't go for the walk we planned because of the rain (so much rain lately!), so we hopped in the car and went to the library and the video store to pick out movies for "movie night". It is no small feat finding one that everyone wants to see but we decided on the Disney movie "Enchanted". The kids played with friends after lunch and at dinnertime we ordered a pizza and watched the movie. All in all a very good day. Let's hope the rest of vacation goes this smoothly!

Classic Buttermilk Waffles
adapted from a recipe from King Arthur Flour

2 large eggs
1 3/4 cup buttermilk, plus more to thin if necessary
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup ground golden flaxseed or ground pecans (optional)

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. In another bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Combine the wet and dry ingredients just until almost smooth. Add more buttermilk if it seems too thick. Spray your non-stick waffle iron with cooking spray before preheating it. Cook according to wafflemaker instructions.

Makes about 8 Belgian waffles. Halve the recipe if you like, or make the whole recipe and let the extras cool on a cooling rack (so they don't steam themselves soggy) and place in a zip top bag and freeze. To reheat, place waffle in the toaster to crisp.

Pecan Chicken Salad

If you're looking for an unusual and delicious chicken salad, try this one. I found the recipe in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette a few years back and it's been one of my favorites ever since. The recipe came from the California Table Grape Commission - the grapes give it just the right sweetness and the basil is a nice twist. It's even better after it's mixed together and chilled for a while in the fridge. It gives the flavors a chance come together.

Pecan Chicken Salad
from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups seedless grapes, cut in half

1/2 cup (or less to taste) diced celery

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

2 T fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup (I use less) mayonnaise

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 T lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and chill for at least 2 hours.

Chicken Salad, originally uploaded by deanna23.

Sour Cherry Harvest

It's been two, maybe three, years ago that my husband planted our orchard by the side of our house. A couple of apple trees, a peach tree, and two sour cherry trees. They are still tiny trees (you can see the trunk of our peach tree in the background of the above photo) and they are no taller than I am with my arms reaching up. We have gaurded them best we can from the deer that graze our property and this year, we noticed small peaches on the peach tree (which have since succumbed to worms) and cherries on (only) one of the cherry trees. Annie and I went out to pick the cherries yesterday and we got more than I thought we would. I pitted and froze those tiny cherries so that sometime I can make a mini cherry pie. Mark says sour-cherry pies are his all-time favorite which he remembers from his childhood. I can still remember my Grandma making the prettiest, brightest-red jam from Oregon sour cherries which we would spread on hearty toasted and buttered bread. Hopefully this little tree will continue to grow and produce even more cherries so our kids can have those memories too.

Bottoms Up to Fabulous Friends!

Five of us girlfriends and 8 of our kids got together this week to complete the "cool bag" project. The weather was hot, the food was wonderful, the Miller Chill was cold and refreshing, the sky threatened rain, the kids jumped on trampolines, played in the kiddie pool, drew pictures on the sidewalk, and ate popsicles while us girls -fabrics, notions and sewing machines in hand- completed the coolest tote bags in one afternoon! We had so much fun! I am so lucky to have found this group of funny, interesting, creative, and fabulous friends! When we get together, I know I'm in for lots of laughs and a little therapeutic venting as we talk of the challenges and humors of being modern day moms and wives. A Big, Huge thanks to Megan for coming up with the great idea, and another Big, Huge thanks to Jen for making it a great success at her home. You guys are the greatest! Here's to more crafty adventures to come!

The Colors of Late Spring

In the past few weeks, I have been so busy in the garden I feel like I can barely keep up - definitely no time to blog!. Today alone, I weeded and mulched two large beds, planted 4 Geraniums and 20 Calendula plants, watered the most heat-wilted plants and the new green beans seedlings popping out of the ground. And that's only a small fraction of the things I need to do out there! It's hard work that I hope will pay off later. As I work to plant things that will be in full bloom by mid to late summer, I can really appreciate the plants that are in their prime right now, especially because they didn't require hardly anything from me to become what they are. They just do their thing - year after year! Peonies, chives, poppies and strawberries are my favorites this time of year - they'll come and go before we know it.  The colors are so beautiful and the strawberries are delicious! Now back to the garden!