Rhubarb Pie

My husband came home one day from the daughters house and came into the kitchen with a bag full of muddy, freshly ripped out of the ground plant looking things. "Look what I got!" Well, with dirt falling all over my clean kitchen floor, I wasn't really looking at the plants to be honest. The daughter had dug up and split her rhubarb and gave us a few plants. 

While rhubarb pie is the preferred pie for both the Director and myself, we have not had great success in actually growing the stuff. We get it as a gift from someone else, one who knows what the heck to do with that celery looking stuff, and I make a pie. And it is so good...

So we drop these dried up plant things in a couple of holes and my husband tends to them like his newest children for two seasons and well, I guess we can grow something because we got some really nice rhubarb plants out of that mess. 

So I made a pie...

First, you have to have a LOT of rhubarb stalks to make a pie. About 10 will do it, and you don't want your rhubard too fat. When they are young and still a bit skinny, they taste best.

The Director eats these things straight from the garden with salt on them. They are so sour they take the enamel off your teeth but he loves them. I don't recommend that.

Cut for days, or until you have 4 cups.

Toss with flour and let it sit to get a little thickened up.

And just like that, you have a pie. Yum.

The Bean and Leaf

I don't have any vices anymore. I can't smoke, that kills even the likes of the Marlboro Man. Can't drink wine because it makes my heart race. I can't have sweets, that makes my trainer yell at me and I can't cuss because the director does not like cussing of any kind (even an errant "crap" gets the evil eye). Therefore, I have poured all of my OCD addictive tendencies into drinking the absolute best coffee and iced tea I can find. I started buying a special blend of loose tea specifically for "Southern" Iced Tea from The Spice & Tea Exchange and it is YUMMY.

This stuff is so good and it's strong and black, which are the two main requirements for good old fashioned southern 'make you perky all day' iced tea.

But my mornings belong to my 12 ounce cup of roasted and brewed heaven. I've had one of those K-brand coffee pod makers for years and that thing was just not cutting it. The bestie has me hooked on all things Cuisinart, so I thought I would try their K-Cup coffee pot, and man what a difference. Lately, things are just looking up around here at 6:00am. I liked it so much I bought one for the Georgia family on our last visit there.

About that same time, I upped my pod game and only drink Gevalia Signature Blend now. So smooth...

I have also become a creamer snob. I bet you didn't even know there was such a thing did you? Well, you should join my club. I found this stuff one day when the dairy dude at King Soopers was slacking back there in the cooler watching Twitter while I had important shopping to do and had not filled the shelf with half & half which is a required addition to my morning constitution. This was sitting there looking delicious so I tried it. What a difference! It was like this stuff was made just for coffee! Maybe that's why it is also called "coffee cream". It is just a touch richer than half & half, but not near the heavy cream that makes your trainer wonder if you are even trying at all. 

Chopra.com posted an article showing these five benefits from drinking coffee and tea:

1. Protection against liver disease and cancer
2. Possible decreased risk of dementia
3. Lower risk of type 2 diabetes
4. Protection from cardiovascular disease, and
5. Immune-Boosting properties

Based on the above facts pulled directly from the internet which is jam packed of all kinds of true things, I feel like coffee and tea are addictions I can live with. But I would still love more pie and cake.

Stir Fry Sauce

I watched the show, Emeril Live, every single night when it was on in the late 90's so it's not a huge stretch to claim that Emeril Lagasse taught me how to cook. To this day, when I lay a huge slab of meat on the counter to start cooking, I say to myself "I don't know where you get your meat, but where I get mine, it don't come seasoned" and I throw some spice blend on there. He kills me. I'm not much of a fan of his newest adventure in informercials about selling me all kinds of small over-priced appliances that I need about as much as a gunshot wound, but he is still hysterical.

I was looking over my last few posts and realized that I have a bread addiction based on the fact that all my posts are recipes for BREAD. In honor of my recent rehab (today) from carbs, I am going to post something different. Emeril's Stir Fry Sauce. 

I used to buy this awesome sauce at the store that was like $5.00 per bottle for one meal and was full of sugar and oh so many things that I can't pronounce, so I learned how to make my own. I keep all the ingredients on hand and it takes just a minute to whip up. Next time I make it, I'll take some pictures and add them here. In the meantime, enjoy.

Combine ¼ cup cold water and 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon with 2 teaspoons cornstarch.  Mix well with a small whisk.  Microwave until it is very thick.  Add 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 teaspoons Garlic Chili Sauce (less for less hot), and 3 teaspoons brown sugar (more if you like it a bit sweeter).  Mix well.  Add a little olive oil to large pan.  Cook protein and vegetables in sesame oil, then add sauce. Cook until heated through and somewhat thickened.  Serve over cooked white rice with crunchy chow mien noodles on top.

Mom's Banana Bread

The snow finally arrived and while it took forever for Winter Storm "Xylia" to get here, it was as epic as promised. We got about 24” at our house in the foothills of Denver and it snowed harder than I have seen it snow in probably 15 years. At some points in the storm, the visibility was only a block as the neighbor’s house disappeared.

It is such a peaceful and tranquil site to stand and watch the snow fall. There is nothing quite like standing at the window mesmerized by the site with warm coffee in your favorite cup, a fluffy sweater and a 9-pound Jack Russell at your feet peeing all over your 6-month-old $12,000 hardwood floors. In an amazing feat of persistence, the Director and I were able to train our 17-year-old peanut how to use puppy pads.

As quiet as a snowstorm is, the day after a big storm is anything but quiet. The morning after is met with the constant humming of snow blowers. The best way to reconnect with your neighbors after a long cold winter is a good ole fashioned snow removal party. The Director blew snow for 3 hours helping all the neighbors dig out and for his efforts, Mrs. Tri-Level sent him home with a loaf of banana bread, arguably one of his favorite loaf shaped things in this or any other world. After a slice for dessert tonight after dinner, he proclaimed, “Not as good as yours. Your banana bread just has something special.”

The “something special” is all the butter. It only has 8 ingredients and is really easy to make. Whenever I bake this, I feel like Mom made it for me herself. Maybe next blizzard I will bake a loaf for all the neighbors so I can share that "something special".

Mom’s Banana Bread

1/2 cup room temperature butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 mashed bananas
1 cup coarse ground pecans

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, and sugar. Add eggs beating well after each one is added. Combine dry ingredients and slowly add to creamed mixture. Fold in bananas and nuts and add to loaf pan, greased with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 325° or longer if needed. Check with toothpick in the middle to make sure it is done through.

Mary Ann's Cinnamon Rolls

One of the Quintana family favorite recipes is matriarch, Mary Ann's Cinnamon Rolls. I love anything with Cinnamon, it is by far my favorite spice so naturally, I adore a good cinnamon roll. Not the butter slathered giant plate sized calorie bombs that you get at the mall, but a really good normal person version. If you agree, then this is the breakfast roll for you. This recipe makes 36 rolls and they freeze great. This is the reason I only make them once a year:

It takes me an hour to wash all the dishes when I make these things and it pretty much takes a whole day to make the dough, rise the dough, and make rolls that look like this:

Let them rise again in the pan, bake them, let them cool, frost them, and sit down finally to eat one of these bad boys. If you want to make lifelong friends with your neighbors, these will do the trick. 

Mary Ann's Cinnamon Rolls

3 packages dry yeast
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ cups lukewarm water
1 ½ cups milk, scalded and cooled
10 ½ cups sifted flour
9 tablespoons softened butter
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
5 whole beaten eggs

Dissolve yeast and 1 ½ tablespoons sugar in water. Add milk and 5 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Cream butter and sugar and add to yeast mixture. Add eggs, salt, and remaining flour to make a soft, sticky dough. Turn out onto floured board and knead lightly. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until double, or about 2 hours.

Roll out to ¼” thickness, roll in a rectangle shape and roll long side. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and a LOT of cinnamon. Roll up jelly roll fashion. Cut into 2” pieces and place, cut side up, in a well-greased shallow pan. Spray waxed paper with cooking spray and cover. Let rise until double, or about 1 ½ hours.

Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes. Make a glaze with powdered sugar and water and spread on warm rolls.

Makes 36 rolls, or 3-13”x9” pans.