by jphilo | Mar 30, 2016 | Recipes
My brother and his wife hosted Easter dinner this year. The Man of Steel and I were in charge of only two things: picking up Mom and making pie for dessert. When visiting Mom the Wednesday before Easter, I asked what kind of pie to she wanted.
As a rule, Mom answers that kind of question with a deep sigh. “Oh, I don’t know, Jo. You decide.” But this time, her answer was swift and decisive. “Bumbleberry.”
Which explains why today’s recipe is for bumbleberry pie. Here’s hoping you like it as much as Mom does.
Bumbleberry Pie
12 ounce package of cherry berry mix, thawed
1 cup rhubarb
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter or Earth Balance buttery sticks
Heat oven to 425°. Put fruit in a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Pour them over fruit and mix well.
Pour filling into a 9 inch pie pan lined with a bottom, unbaked pie crust. Dot filling with butter or Earth Balance. Arrange top crust, crimp edges, and seal. Cut slits in top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes. Turn temperature down to 400° and bake for 30–45 minutes longer, until filling begins to bubble. If the top crust gets too brown, lightly cover pie with foil. When the pie done, place it on a wire rack to cool.
by jphilo | May 22, 2014 | Uncategorized
- If writing a book is like pregnancy, then receiving the page proofs from the editor is like having the ultrasound technician hand parents 3-D ultrasound pictures of their babies.
- A sure sign spring is here to stay? The rhubarb needs picking. Again.
- Definition of luxury: weather nice enough to hang laundry on the line by day and sleep on sun-dried sheets by night with the windows open.
What’s your definition of luxury? Leave it in the comment box.
by jphilo | May 14, 2014 | Recipes
Just like yesterday’s post, this one is an encore performance. Why? Because I need to work on page proofs of The Caregiver’s Notebook instead of testing new recipes and blogging about the results. And since the rhubarb in our little patch is almost ready to pick…and maybe at your house, too…here’s the recipe for strawberry-rhubarb pie that first appeared on this website in July of 2009.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
Filling:
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups sliced rhubarb
2 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
Topping:
1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 – 1 cup brown sugar (depending on your taste)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine filling ingredients and pour into an unbaked, 9” pie shell. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of fruit mixture. Bake for 15 minute at 425, then turn heat to 400 and bake for 30-45 minutes more, until fruit is bubbly.
To make strawberry-rhubarb crisp, heat oven to 350 degrees. Omit the pie shell and put fruit mixture in a 9 x 9 Pyrex baking dish. Sprinkle on the topping and bake for 30-45 minutes. I usually double the recipe and bake it in a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish.
If you want more pie recipes, you can download the Philo Family Favorite Pie Recipes. Enjoy!
by jphilo | Apr 23, 2012 | Daily Life
My rhubarb life is spinning out of control this morning. I blame my present chaos on the recent mild winter. This is not the first time the Winter of 2012 has invaded my personal space. Last week, I renamed March and April as Marpril, thanks to the great Early Spring Weather Flip Flop of 2012. Blissfully ignorant of nature’s wiles, I also suggested Maypril as a new name for April and May if the weather hijinks continued, never expecting to put it to use already. But today, the announcement must be made.
Maypril is here!
How do I know? Because it’s time to pick the rhubarb. All last week, before leaving for the Accessibility Summit in the Washington, DC area, I denied the truth. Over and over, I told myself it was still Marpril and nobody in this part of the country picks rhubarb in Marpril. Picking the rhubarb in Marpril would weaken it. Kill it even.
I didn’t want rhubarbacide on my rap sheet.
But when I returned from the Summit (more on that trip tomorrow), the rhubarb – egged on by the Winter of 2012 and the great Early Spring Weather Flip Flop of 2012 – threw it’s version of a tantrum, determined to gain my attention. The rhubarb sent up seed pods. Unheard of in March, April, or Marpril. But common in May. Except May is two weeks away.
Which means it’s Maypril.
So this morning, though my desk is covered with business expense receipts to file and record, though trips to the grocery store and bank are in order, though my inbox is overflowing with emails to answer, though the dirty laundry pile grows as unpacking progresses, though there’s cooking and baking to do…I’m hacking off seedpods and picking rhubarb. Because my mama always sent me out to cut off those seed pods and pick the rhubarb so it would keep producing until the weather turned hot and dry. But the seedpods never sprouted in April. Always in May.
Which means its Maypril. The month when life spins out of control.
Or will feel out of control until my desk is cleared off, the errands are run, the emails are answered, the laundry’s done, the get basic cooking and baking is finished, and there’s time to make a rhubarb-strawberry crisp. Then maybe I’ll like Maypril as much as I liked May evenings when my mom served rhubarb crisp for desserts, when my dad winked and said, “Maybe you better not eat that, Jo-Jo. Maybe you better give it to me so I can see if your piece is as good as mine was,” when my brother and sister and I giggled because it was rhubarb season, and our parents were happy.
Then, I’ll welcome Maypril.
by jphilo | Jun 22, 2011 | Recipes
Nestled at the bottom of today’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) bag were two quarts of beautiful, hand-picked strawberries. This is the third week of strawberries Hiram describes as “red all the way through.”
That red translates into flavor all the way through and means the berries have to be used quickly. So as soon as I got home today, I picked some rhubarb and threw together a strawberry-rhubarb crisp – quicker than a strawberry-rhubarb pie and just as delicious. So give this recipe a try. If you have rhubarb, but not strawberries, use twice as much rhubarb and a little more sugar.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
2 cups sliced rhubarb
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
3/4 – 1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put fruits in a 9 x 9 glass or ceramic pan and mix together.
Combine sugar, flour, oatmeal, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in softened butter. Spread over fruit. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes until topping is brown and fruit is bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream, milk or cream.
