Rhubarb Custard Pie - or, my little oasis of Heaven

Since my love of rhubarb knows no bounds, I have to share this recipe which I found in the depths of my mother's 1960 recipe box, along with about 50 other recipes that involve rhubarb.  

I love this recipe because #1 - it's really pretty simple to make (especially with the invention of the pre-made Pillsbury pie crusts) and #2 - the custard/rhubarb combination is heavenly.  Rhubarb by itself is pretty sour, and generally you need to add a good amount of sugar.  This recipe however, isn't too sicky sweet - it's perfection!

So, here is a picture of the recipe that I was facing.  I'm going to pare it down for you and make it less complicated than what you see here.  

Your list of ingredients:

1 Pillsbury Pie crust

3 large eggs

1 1/3 cup sugar

7 TB cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups skim milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 lb rhubarb, diced

1/4 cp water

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Here we go!
1.  Prepare the pie crust according to the package directions.  I used a metal pie pan, but any will do.  Bake it at 350 for about 10-15 minutes until it's golden.  Cool completely on a rack.

2.  Now for the Custard (not hard!)
      Separate the eggs (save the whites for the meringue at the end).  Place the yolks into a saucepan.  With a wire whisk, beat 1/2 cup of the sugar, 4 TB of the cornstarch, and the salt into the egg yolks until smooth.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and it comes to a boil - which will be about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Pour on top of your cooled pie crust and set it aside.

3.  Now on the the rhubarb filling:

     In a 2 quart saucepan, heat the diced rhubarb and 1/4 cup of water over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Cook for 5 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of sugar and the remaining 3 TB of cornstarch.  Stir into the rhubarb and heat again to boiling.  Cook, stirring constantly until the rhubarb is just tender and the mixture is thick and clear.  Pour over the custard which is sitting patiently on top of your pie crust.  Now onto the meringue topping!

*We are taking a little pause here*  I just had to show you all this container of Cream of Tartar.  This is what I found in my mother's cupboard - I think it's got to be from the 1960's - does cream of tartar ever go bad???  Well - I used it!  and I'm still alive - pie turned out wonderful - so, I'm guessing not.  ha.

4.  Now to make the meringue topping.  

     Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Add cream of tartar to your egg whites in a large bowl.  Beat them on high until stiff peaks begin to form.  Beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar.  Spoon the meringue over the filling and bake for 12-15 minutes until browned.

Grab a hot cup of coffee, a huge slice of your pie and ENJOY!  (Did I tell you I just LOVE pie?!)  

Rhubarb Recipes: Rhubarb Bread

Since Rhubarb is a bit rare where I live in Texas, I thought I'd share with you a few recipes that I tried while visiting my family in Indiana. 

 This one for Rhubarb Bread is extremely simple!  

The rhubarb I used, came straight from my mom's garden - if you're using fresh like this, you'll want to be sure to cut the leaves off and discard them (they are poisonous).  Then, you need to wash the stems and remove the ends before you start in with your recipe.

I found this recipe in my mom's stash - as you can see, it's been used and loved!

So, here we go:  

Rhubarb Bread

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk (I use powdered buttermilk & just keep it stored in the fridge.  You can also mix a TB of vinegar to a cup of milk if you're in a pinch)

2 cups diced rhubarb (I'd suggest using 3 cups)

Topping:
Sugar/Cinnamon

1. Stir together the dry ingredients.  

2. Beat liquid ingredients.  

3.  Make well in dry ingredients, pour in liquid and stir until just blended.  

4. Stir in rhubarb.  

5. Pour into two 8x4 inch pans.  

6. Top with sugar and cinnamon.  

7. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes.    

Eat, and Enjoy!  (I'd suggest a cup of steaming coffee as an accompaniment!)  It's very much like a coffee cake -

See the bits of rhubarb?  See why I wanted to add more?  

Next up:  

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

And, Rhubarb Custard Pie (my fav!)

Don't forget to find Whoopsie Daisies on Twitter, Facebook, and Etsy!  Thanks for reading....(off to refill my coffee cup.......)

I'd love to hear any questions or comments you might have about this recipe!

Best Valentine Butter Cookies - EVER! Seriously!

I'm nibbling on one of these delectable little nuggets as I type this (well, the crumbs are falling onto the keyboard - I'll just send the dog in to lick it up in a sec ;)

If you like butter (and who in their sane mind doesn't??) - you'll salivate at these!  I'm serrrr-eeeee-aaassss!

I thought on first glance they were just another sugar cookie, but oh no - more like a shortbread cookie.  I've made 3 batches of these bad boys.  Planned to make just 2, but then I tasted one, and it was all over from there.

They call for lemon zest, which I didn't have - so I substituted lemon extract.  The lemon gives just the right amount of zing to them - you'll die!

You can find the recipe on the February 2010 issue of Southern Living - or just click HERE.

So, I also decided that my kids weren't going to school on Monday with store bought little paper valentines from the drug store (which I'm beginning to think they would have preferred!) - so we (which means "me" actually!  kids only remotely supervised this project, which doesn't really make it "their" project, now does it?  dummy me - they could have written their names on the paper ones and been just as happy, but oh, no!  "Crafty Mom" decided that they needed something a little "different!" o well.) made these little fortune cookie valentines from felt circles.  They have cute little sayings in them like:

"I'm so fortune-ate to have you as a friend"

and "Hugs, Kisses, and Best Wishes"

and "Give me all your candy or I"ll kick you in the knees" (oops! not that one, really.)

I followed the link from Martha Stewart HERE.

I found it a little hard to keep the candies inside, so I ended up hot glueing the edges shut in a few places.  

All in all, I think they turned out pretty darn cute!  

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Pumpkin Scotchies - The Cookie Recipe

Well, after mixed reviews at my house (was I going for a crunchy cookie - and these are more like Pumpkin Bread Cookies - a softer consistency), I decided to take these to the Fort Worth Arts Goggle Saturday night as my contribution to the snack table.  (Pumpkin Spice Cookies also came along....maybe I'll post that recipe too a little later).
These little Pumpkin Scotchies were snatched up pretty quickly, with audible "Mmmmm's..... and Oooh's....) - so, here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Oatmeal Scotchies 

(From Mommys Kitchen - a great blog for everyday cooking)

1 1/4 cp all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cp butter, softened

3/4 cp. sugar

3/4 cp. brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar)

2 large eggs

1 cp canned pumpkin (I used a small can)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used Mexican vanilla - yumm!)

3 cps quick oats

1 package Butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, sugars, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla in large mixer bowl.  Gradually beat in the flour mixture.  Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9-10 minutes for crisp cookies (I baked for 12 minutes and still got chewy cookies).  Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes - then remove to wire rack to cool completely.  (Personally - I inhaled my fair share while still warm! - yumm!)




Hope you enjoy them!  Would love to hear how yours turn out!

Rhubarb Cake Supreme - Total Yummy, Sweet, Goodness!

My parents have a pretty good sized garden in the back, and have always had several Rhubarb plants that have thrived there year after year.  The starts came from my Aunt Ruth I believe - probably in the 70's is my best guess (maybe 60's?  Mom?  Amanda? do you know?)  

So, each summer I like to eat a little bit since I can't find it here in Texas.  And...if I ever did find it - I doubt I'd want to pay the price for it.  My guess is it would be expense, and not taste nearly as good as it does fresh from the garden. 

So, without further ado, I'd like to share the recipe we used this summer:

Rhubarb Cake Supreme

Here's what you need:

6 cups rhubarb cut into 1" pieces

1 3 oz. box strawberry Jello

1 cup sugar

1 package yellow cake mix

3/4 cp. butter, melted

1 1/2 cup water

Start by cutting the leaves off the top of the rhubarb (unless you bought it from the store - then the leaves are probably already removed).  Discard the leaves.  Wash the stalks and cut them into 1 inch pieces.

Place the rhubarb in a 9x13 inch pan.  (Good job for little helpers!)

Mix the dry Jello with the 1 cup of sugar.  

Sprinkle the Jello and Sugar over the Rhubarb.  (Nothing complicated here folks!)

Sprinkle the cake mix over the Jello/Sugar mixure (Again, easy-peasy!)

Now, drizzle the melted butter over the cake mix. (Staying with me?)

Pour the 1 1/2 cups water over that and pop it into a 350 degree oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

This is the cute little oven we used at my parent's house.  It's not an antique - but sure is cute, huh?

And, Voila!  Here you go - Rhubarb Cake Supreme - extra delicious with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top.  Hope you likey!

Rhubard Crunch.....Yummm, Yummmmm

I love Rhubarb and I can't get it here in Texas, so I love to eat it when I go home to Indiana in the summers. My mom has it growing in the garden - loads of it, so we grew up eating loads of it each summer, or so it seems. Here is a recipe that I made while home during July - you might like to try, if you can get your hands on rhubarb.

Rhubarb Crunch

1 cp flour
3/4 cp rolled oats
1 cp brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Mix until crumbly. Press 1/2 of the mixture into an 8x8 inch pan.
Cover with 4 cups chopped rhubarb.

Mix together the following in a medium saucepan:
1 cp sugar
1 cp water
2 TB corn starch
Cook until thick and clear. Add 1 tsp vanilla. Pour mixture over rhubarb. Top with the rest of the crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr.
Serve warm with ice cream.

Hope you enjoy!

"C" is for Cookie, Yee Haw Cowboy!

We were able to spend some good friendly get together time this weekend with several friends of ours from the neighborhood and church. I brought these cookies for everyone and several people had asked for the recipe. So, I thought I'd just post it here for all of you also! Cowboy Cookies are my "go-to" cookies when I need to bake something. The secret to the chewy-ness is the oatmeal, brown sugar and coconut. The secret to the rather large size - I use an ice cream scoop to round them into balls before they bake.

Very Big, Very Chewy, and Oh sooo good! Hope you enjoy-

Cowboy Cookies - Yee Haw!

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut

Stir together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a sepatate bowl, blend butter and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and continue to beat until fluffy. Blend in vanilla.

Mix in the dry mixture a little at a time (or you'll have flour flying around your kitchen!). Mix in the chocolate chips and coconut.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Heat oven to 350.

Using an ice cream scoop, shape the dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart.

Bake for about 10-13 minutes. Don't over bake them! Take them out when the edges are just brown and the centers are just set. Take them out of the oven, and let them sit on the pan for about 5 minutes before you take them off. If you try to take them off before this, they'll just mush up on your spatula, unless you over baked them (like I told you not too! I know this is hard, especially if your little boy is in your bathroom going through your makeup drawer and discovering that mascara is fun to scribble on one's face with - but just set your timer, you'll thank me!).

Also, I use a Silpat for baking all of my cookies. It's awesome - non stick, and preventing a lot of spreading. I also use a cookie sheet with the air flow under it - I think things cook a little slower on it, so be sure to keep an eye on your cookies while they're in the oven.

You can also try different flavors of chips - the peanut butter chips are great too.

Good luck - let me know how they turn out. I wish the pictures could've been a little better - I need a course on taking pictures I think. If only I could inject the wonderful smell - I know you're mouth would be watering!

Dinner Success (My Kids Even Ate It!)

Well, since I love to read everyone else's blogs, as well as write in my own - I came across this blog post in Angry Chicken about 5 Minute Artisan Bread- so I decided to scout around and find a recipe online that I could try before purchasing the book. Well, I found a recipe that had been adapted from the book here. Gave it a try - and WOW! it's Good! And I have to say, I was not quite sure how this was going to turn out. The recipe calls for 3 cups of water - I ended up adding 4 cups because my dough looked way too stiff.
Basically, you mix yeast, salt, water, and flour together - sit it on your counter for a few hours, then bake for 20-30 minutes and voila!
My kids ate it up...and I still have a rather large amount of dough in the frig. The recipe says that it'll keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Cool, huh?
One of the best parts, is the time element. I have a hard time devoting a length of time greater than 2 minutes to anything....(think needy children crawling up my leg), so this was great. Each step just took a few minutes.


Then, I came across this recipe in The Apron Book for Put Your Feet Up Stew. I can't say I put my feet up while it was cooking, but I can say, I wasn't standing in the kitchen (just chasing around my munchkins). Oh - for the love of a crock pot!!
Anyway - I think the picture doesn't look that appetizing - but I have to tell you - once again....my 5 year old and my 19 mo. old both ate it!! Basically just sausage (I used smoked turkey sausage), green beans, onion, potatoes and cream of mushroom soup. All together fairly healthy.


Part of my feeling of success stems from the fact that my #2 has been extremely cranky lately - teething....not napping....wanting "MaMa"...all the time, my hubbie is out of town until Sunday, and my #1 is recovering from Strep Throat and Mono....so, I officially, give myself a Bozo Button for today's accomplishments! Oh! and I sold my sweet little pink and blue Apron - to Amber. Thanks Amber! Oooh - and I had both kids in bed by 7:45pm tonight!! It was a good day.