Rhubarb, glorious rhubarb

{my cover}

My mom stocked me up with an armful of rhubarb.  I can’t seem to get a plant to grow in my yard which is unfortunate because I love the stuff.  Did you know it is a vegetable by the way?  Yep.

Yesterday I washed and chopped up about 6 cups of the reddish stalks and made 3 containers of rhubarb sauce and used the last 2 cups to make a rhubarb ice tea.  I then used the iced tea to create a delicious cocktail after googling basil and rhubarb together.

Both the tea recipe and the sauce recipe are pulled from a lovely little book I pulled from a shelf in a gas station and while I don’t usually buy my books from such convenience stores this one was too good to pass up.  The Joy of Rhubarb; the versatile summer delight by Theresa Millang (Adventure Publishing) is packed full of wonderful recipes.

{New and improved cover}

Rhubarb Sauce
(A versatile
sauce…good over ice cream or chicken)
1 1/2 cups
granulated sugar 
1 T water
1 T finely
shredded orange peel
6 cups fresh
rhubarb slices 1/4-in thick
1 tsp pure
vanilla extract
Mix sugar, water
and orange peel in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Add rhubarb and
stir.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until rhubarb is
tender and mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes.  Stir in vanilla.
 Cool.  Spoon into glass jars; cover and refrigerate for no more than
1 week, or place in plastic containers and freeze.  

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I used a mixture of stevia and organic sugar as I’m experimenting with stevia.  I let mine simmer for more than 8 minutes as I want it to be mush.  I generally use mine as a jam but since I’m trying to be  more gluten-free I plan to stir a teaspoonful into my greek yogurt for breakfast.  I saved one container out to use and stashed the other two in the freezer to use later.  I tried a few spoonfuls and the stevia held up just fine.

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Rhubarb Ice Tea
For flavor variation, add a
cinnamon stick when cooking, and stir in fresh lemon juice when serving.
8 stalks rhubarb, cut into 3-inch
pieces
8 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
Bring rhubarb and water to a boil
in a large saucepan.  Reduce heat; simmer
1 hour.  Strain; discard the pulp.  Stir sugar into the hot liquid until
dissolved.  Cool.  Serve over ice.  Garnish with mint, Lavender sprigs, or lemon
slices.  Makes 6 servings.

Again I used stevia and the flavor was great.  I poured it over ice and made this rhubarb basil cocktail from Elizabeth at The Kitchn. It was refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day.  I took several photos of my rhubarb cooking but have to resort to using her beautiful picture as my husband left the house with our camera this morning. Probably for the best as my picture couldn’t do it justice.  Yum!

{The Kitchn}

(Note to mom:  I need more rhubarb)
This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme.  Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

My own Cinnamon Scones

{source}

I made these for breakfast this morning and they were delicious and flaky.  It was my turn to make something for Sunday school treats and our church has been on a Blue Zone kick, trying to bring in healthier options instead of donuts.  Even though these had minimum sweetness  kids and adults ate them up!  I know the title of the post says cinnamon scones which is confusing since the recipe says different but trust me and keep reading…

New Hampshire Maple-Walnut Scones
KAF Baking Companion




3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup butter or shortening (or a combo)
1 cup finely chopped and toasted walnuts
1 cup milk
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp maple flavoring


Preheat the oven to 425*F.


In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the butter or shortening until the mixture resembles course crumbs.  Stir in the walnuts.


In a separate bowl, combine the milk, 1/3 cup of the maple syrup, and the maple flavoring.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you’ve formed a very soft dough.


Flour your work surface generously and scrape the dough out of the mixing bowl onto the floured surface.  Divide the dough in half.


Working with one half at a time, gently pat the dough into a 7-in circle about 7/8 inch thick.  Transfer the circle to a parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet or other flat pan; it will be very soft, and if you have a giant spatula, it’s the tool of choice here.  Repeat with the remaining dough, placing it in a separate pan.


Using a sharp knife or rolling pizza wheel, dived each dough circle into eight wedges.  Gently separate the wedges so that they’re almost touching in the center, but are spaced about an inch apart at the edges.  Pierce the tops of the scones with fork tines and brush them with remaining maple syrup.


Bake the scones for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush with any remaining maple syrup. Wait a few minutes and then gently separate scones and transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, with jam or maple syrup butter.

Adaption:

This was the recipe I really wanted to make except I didn’t have walnuts and our maple syrup jug was ’bout empty plus it was 10:30 pm.  At that point you have to improvise.  Last week I’d made this scrumptious  cinnamon sugar syrup (The Sisters Cafe) for fun.  I still had some left and I used that instead of the maple syrup in the recipe and in the poked holes.  I replaced the walnuts with golden raisins which provided a little natural sweetness.  My flour was also a mixture of KAF unbleached and whole wheat.

I made only one batch of these but cut those nice wedges into half again and it made plenty for about 30 people.  I easily made them in about an hour’s time including baking.  Even though it kept me up late it was worth the compliments from both young and old.

Yes, you may ask why I was concocting this so late…and the answer would be busy, busy day.  We worked a charity event at a local restaurant from 12:30-4:30 came home and ate dinner quickly with kids, kissed them again and then headed to our local university’s theatre to usher for The Merchant of Venice (Beach) a revised Shakespearean drama.  Today we saw another play, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, at the children’s theatre my husband used to run.  I’d not seen this, one of my favorite children’s books, brought to life and it was excellent.  We had several young friends starring and it lit a fire in Groovy Girl’s belly to try out for next year’s season.

While I’ve been typing this post out my sweet son downloaded a Grateful Dead album onto my computer and I’ve been grooving to Sugar Magnolia-he just made my day as I discovered I can sing the lyrics out with his awesome headphones on which make me feel like I’m in the band.  Of course I cleared the room also!  

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking post.  Click her link to find many other food-related posts from all over the globe.  The scones in the photo above look delicious also and closely resemble mine.  I found the photo at Jenny Steffens Hobick’s website Everyday Occasions and will have to make them the next time I need a perfect breakfast treat.

Weekend Cooking; Chef Love.

I’ve made several interesting recipes in the midst of our busy week.  I had my heart set on re-making these amazing sweet potato black bean burritos and had even prebaked the sweet potatoes one night while I had the oven on for something else (green idea not to have to reheat the oven)  and then my husband used those cooked sweet potatoes as a side for one of his meals.  He makes dinner just ONE night a week of which I AM grateful for but he often uses something for his dinner that he thinks I am letting “waste away” in our fridge or cupboard, etc.  He’s forgiven though because it is a joy to come home Thursday night and have dinner ready for me no matter what it is. 

I easily rebought and rebaked those sweet potatoes and made the burritos the very next week.  I also created the Mexican Casserole from Katie Workman’s The Mom 100 Cookbook., which was a huge hit at dinner.

My actual weekend cooking post is about this stack of cookbooks: like a great love affair I can’t live without them.

From  top to bottom: 

1. Deborah Madison is a queen and one of my first cooking crushes.  Some people fell for Paula Deen or Rachel Ray-me it was all about Deborah.  It stands to reason that my mother-in-law gave the book to me for a Christmas present about 10 years ago.  The book now has a few food smudged pages showing my love.  Love.

2. Giada D.L. my second crush  helped  me take pasta to a new level for my family.  I learned to make pesto and a popping cherry tomato sauce through her tutelage.  I’ve never watched her show but I’m sure it’s lovely.  For me Everyday Italian will be my go-to for fun pasta.

3. Katie Workman is my latest crush.  I picked her up at my Scholastic book fair and kept going back for more.  Now her book The Mom 100 Cookbook is a staple for what I need.  The Mexican Casserole I made this week will become a staple in my menu rotation. 

4. The Grit (Athens, GA) Cookbook-okay I know this is a place not a person but if I could go work in one kitchen in the United States it would be at The Grit. Every time I open this book I find a great quote, a perfect recipe, or an idea I can use.  I’ve never had the pleasure to eat there but it is on my food adventure bucket list. My mom gave me this one.  (Truth: she bought it for herself and I talked her out of it.) Very crush-worthy.  Anybody been there?

5. So Sweet!  by Sur la Table. Again I know not a chef but just like #4 so worth the help this book gives me.  My desserts leaped to new levels after I purchased this book for Groovy Girl.  I’ve made many recipes from this tiny book and especially love the whoopie pie section.  Yep, I’m crushing on the staff that put this little one together.

If you are looking for a new chef to follow or a new cookbook to love you would not be disappointed with any of these choices.  This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. 

Be peaceful~