Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My husband has been wanting a strawberry rhubarb pie but he always seems to want it when rhubarb is not in season. Since it is in season now, I thought I'd go ahead and make the pie but instead of cooking after if is all assembled, I chose to vacuum seal and freeze it until he is ready for me to bake it.

However, this first time making this pie, I made two-one to freeze and one to bake--for our neighbors who just had their kitchen redone so I did it as a celebratory pie for them. I have never made this pie before so this recipe I found on www.foodnetwork.com. This particular recipe was part of the "Great American Pie Cook-off" created and submitted by Valerie Enters.

I did make a few changes or substitutions. The recipe received great reviews with a couple exceptions. One being that it was a bit too runny, so instead of using tapioca as the recipe calls for, one commenter suggests using 6 tbsp. of cornstarch. The second exception being that it was a bit on the tart side. Because I don't want the pies to be too tart, I'm substituting the lemon zest and juice it calls for with orange zest and juice.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie


2 1/2 c. red rhubarb, fresh, chopped (about 1/2 inch thick and 1 inch long)
2 1/2 c. strawberries, fresh, chopped (larger chuncks than rhubarb)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. tapioca OR 6 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. lemon zest OR orange zest
1/2 tsp. lemon juice OR orange juice
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract OR 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped*
3 tbsp. butter, cubed small
1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. water

1. Prepare pie crust. Place one crust in pie plate and put in refrigerator until ready to add pie filling. Keep second pie crust in fridge until ready to cover pie filling.
2. Mix rhubarb, strawberries, tapioca/cornstarch, sugar, flour, zest, juice, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix well in a large bowl and pour into chilled crust.
3. Dot the top of the pie filling with butter. Brush edges of pie crust with egg white wash.
4. Roll out second pie crust and place over pie filling. Crimp edges to seal.
5. Bursh with egg wash and garnish with sugar.
5. Collar pie with foil of metal pie collar and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 375 degrees and bake an additional 45-50 minutes, or until the filling starts to bubble. Let cool before serving.

8 servings

*Vanilla beans tend to be stronger in flavor and I prefer to use it rather than vanilla extract, but that is my preference.
**In my baking, if I don't have vanilla bean to use I like to use French vanilla extract-it has a bit of a sweeter taste and just gives it a little something extra. A little something special. Of course, it is my preference.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling Dotted with Butter

Pork Dumplings

These are wonder little eggroll or pot sticker type dumplings, depending on how you choose to cook them. Fried in oil they are more like an eggroll and steamed more like a pot sticker. You don't have to use pork, but any meat of your choosing.

-Marinate pork loins, shredded (marinade is the entry preceeding this one)
-1 pkg. Broccoli cole slaw mix (or you can use a mixture of your liking with shredded cabbage and carrots.
-Dumpling or wonton wrappers
-Small dish of water

1. Blanch or gently stir fry cole slaw mix or vegetable with 2 tbsp. water for about 2minutes. Remove, drain and place on paper towels to soak any remaining water.
2. Place a wonton wrapper, place 1 tbsp. or shredded pork and same amount of vegetable mix.
3. FOR DUMPLINGS: Fold up like a burrito, bringing bottom corner up, folding left and right corners over and roll up-seal with a bit of water to the edges.
FOR POT STICKERS: Bring opposite edges together above filling to resemble that of a taco shell. Press edges together and create pleats; pinch pleats together to seal. Genlty press the around the filling, eliminating any air pockets.
4. Cooking DUMPLINGS #1: Heat oil in deep fryer, adding 2-3 dumplings, one at a time to fryer. Cook evenly on both sides, 1-2 minutes each until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to remove excess oil.
Cooking DUMPLINGS #2: In a Dutch oven double boiler or some other large pan with a lid, place a lightly oiled metal steamer over an inch of water (creating a double boiler). Bring the water to a boil. Place dumplings in pan, careful that they don't touch or they will stick together, cover and steam cook 8 minutes.
Cooking POT STICKERS: Heat 1 1/2 tsp. of oil (vegetable or peanut) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place pot stickers in skillet and cook about 2 minutes-be sure edges don't touch or they will stick. Add 1/4 c. water and immediately cover pan with lid-reduce heat to medium. Cook pot stickers for about 6 minutes. Remove cover and return heat to medium-high and cook off any remaining water and continue to fry until the sides are golden adn crispy, 2-3 minutes.

24 Dumplings/Pot stickers

Pork Dumpling Marinade

I love Asian foods-stir fries, dumplings, rice dishes, etc. I'm not big on soy sauce as it is too salty for me so I tend to opt for sesame oil and sesame seeds. This marinade can be used to not only as a marinad but as a sauce for dipping or in a crock pot to cook the meat of choice for your dumplings.

1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. sesame oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 tbsp. worstershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
4 (1 lb.) boneless pork loins

1. Whisk together all ingredients.
2. At this point, you can place 4 boneless pork loins in a ziploc bag and pour in marinade to marinate overnight; OR place the pork loins and marinade into a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours; OR use as marinate while reserving 1/4 cup as a dipping sauce for later.
3. Whne pork is done, remove from crockpot and juices and allow to rest and cool about 10 minutes, then shred pork.

Deviled Eggs

I have never made Deviled Eggs until this past Easter. I had to go off memory of watching my mom make then when I was growing up and using my tastes to come up with my filling. With that, here is what I came up with, of course there are as many versions of Deviled Eggs as there are people in the world. It is one of those foods that can be prepared a number of way with any number of ingredients.

6 Hard boiled eggs, shell removed
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1/3 c. mayonnaise
Dash of Salt
Dash of Pepper
Paprika

1. Cut each egg in half, lenghtwise and remove yolk. Put yolks in a bould and eggs on a plate.
2. In the bowl with the yolks, add mayonnaise and mustard and mix well, until creamy and well blended. Stir in garlic powder, salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into plastic ziploc bag and snip a corner.
3. Squeeze mixture from bag into hard boiled egg whites until full. Sprinkle the tops with paprika and serve. Refrigerate until ready to eat and any leftovers.

12 eggs

Cranberry Chicken

I had come across a recipe for Cranberry Cutlets at some point over the holidays for using leftover cranberry sauce, but when I was ready to make it I forgot where I had seen the recipe, so I took the idea and made my own Cranberry Chicken.

1 can Whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 c. onion, finely chopped
Dash of cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. black pepper
8 chicken breasts

1. Mix together cranberry, onion, cinnamon, garlic and pepper.
2. Arrange chicken breasts in baking dish. Spoon 1-2 tbsp. of prepared sauce over each chicken breast and spread evenly over each breast.
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is done and no longer pink in the middle.

NOTE #1: This dish serves will with rice and or a salad with dried cranberries on top.

NOTE #2: Any leftover sauce can be used on pork or turkey or cooked in a crockpot with turkey meatballs.