A morning in the kitchen

It's been very hot and humid for May in northern New England.  This morning was the first cool, breezy one in days, so I took the opportunity to bake some cookies for our pastor's retirement service this weekend.  I have several varieties already in the freezer, but needed to bake a few more.  I hit upon the idea of making these Fruity Pastel Cookies that I usually bake at Christmas time.

I had been talking with a friend about some strawberry cookies I'd made with a strawberry cake mix.  We were saying that it might be fun, for summer, to make them with orange cake mix for a Creamsicle® effect.  And so that's what got me thinking about these fruit-flavored cookies, colored and flavored with a package of Jell-o®.  They are a cookie press cookie -- spritz -- as I usually make them.

And that's why I chose them for this occasion -- cookie press cookies are fast and easy and the recipes usually make quite a few.

However.  One attempt with the orange dough made me toss the cookie press aside.  I've worn out several cookie presses over the years, and the one I have now is a lovely KitchenAid model.  It looks beautiful and works fairly well, but it produces cookies that are just too big.  To my mind,  pressed cookies should be daintier looking so they stay crisp.  If the cookies are too large they just taste sort of doughy and just not as good as they should.  You can see in the photo above how big the cookies came out.  If I had pressed all of the orange dough, I would have ended up with about a dozen cookies!  Clearly, this was not the best idea.

So I resorted to rolling the dough into balls, dipping the tops in sugar and then flattening them with a glass.  I tried using a cookie stamp but that didn't work very well either.

I went on to make lime cookies and cherry lemonade ones.  I hadn't intended to make any pink cookies, but when I found the cherry lemonade Jell-o® in the pantry, it just seemed meant to be.  I began by topping these with white sugar, but it sort of disappeared into the cookies so I switched to red.

So a couple of hours later, I ended up with this:

I've been cooling the cookies on the dining room table because of the possibility of ants on the kitchen counters.  I haven't seen any today, but you never know.  It's hot weather and it's New England.  The ants are about!

So I put down newspaper under the cooling racks so I could just leave place mats, runner, etc. right in place and not get crumbs all over them.  Works pretty well.

My morning in the kitchen was not yet complete, however.  I needed to cut up and cook some rhubarb for my dad.  I pulled the rhubarb at his place a few days ago and brought it home to prepare it when I had more time. 

He likes it simply stewed with some strawberry gelatin powder mixed in to give it a strawberry rhubarb flavor.  Makes it a little prettier, too, since his rhubarb is not all that red.

(The rhubarb has now been cooled, packaged, and delivered to the recipient.)
And that was my morning in the kitchen.  Busy, but productive.

Another rhubarb treat!

(Photo by Taste of Home)

I clipped this recipe years ago -- Rhubarb Almond Pastry -- and had not tried it. It's from a 1993 Country Woman magazine!

We liked these pastry squares a lot. They would be good for breakfast or a coffee break as well as for dessert. I especially liked the way the filling turned out and that it didn't have to be precooked. The tapioca thickened it just right. I ran out of rhubarb so filled in with a chopped apple and a few frozen blueberries.

I do need to note that the recipe you will find on the Taste of Home site has a couple of errors in it. The last ingredient listed for the pastry should be milk, not butter. And the recipe I have calls for 1 Tablespoon baking powder, while the one on the site calls for 4 Tblsp. I can't believe that's correct.

Hope you enjoy this recipe if you try it!

Another rhubarb dessert

(Photo from Taste of Home)

Mmm-mm, we love rhubarb treats in the springtime! I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and we really enjoyed it: Rhubarb Icebox Dessert. The only thing I did differently was to leave off the vanilla pudding layer. I'm sure it would have added a lovely flavor and texture dimension, but I had no vanilla instant pudding on hand and no time to make up a substitute. So I just skipped it and sprinkled the reserved graham cracker crumbs on top of the marshmallow cream layer instead. It was wonderful! I have now put some vanilla instant pudding in the pantry so I can try this recipe again.

Rhubarb Cheesecake Dessert

(Photo from Taste of Home)

Yesterday I tried a new recipe for our potluck lunch at church: Rhubarb Cheesecake Dessert.

For a change, I didn't do anything different to the recipe when preparing it. Usually, I make some changes even when I make a recipe for the first time. But I made this just as written. It went over very, very well. I must have had a half dozen requests for the recipe, and will get those out to the people who asked ASAP (in case any of them happen to be reading this). I will definitely be making this dessert again!

Some favorite rhubarb recipes

While rhubarb is still in season, I thought it would be fun to share these favorites of mine. Perhaps someone else would like to try these for their own families. I know I've shared the Four-Fruit Crumble before, but it's one of those recipes that bears repeating!

RHUBARB STREUSEL CAKE

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 egg
4 cups sliced fresh rhubarb
3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin powder
Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup quick or old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup butter or real margarine, melted

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, milk and egg; beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well combined. Spread the batter in a greased 13X9” baking pan. Arrange rhubarb evenly over batter; sprinkle with gelatin powder. For Streusel Topping, combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly; sprinkle evenly over rhubarb. Bake at 375º for 35 to 40 minutes, until topping is golden brown and cake tests done. May be served warm or cool. Yield: 1 13X9” cake

I have been making this cake for my entire married life! It's one of the first dessert recipes I turn to when the rhubarb is ready every spring. The strawberry gelatin is the touch that makes this cake
especially mouth-watering.

RHUBARB CRISP

3 cups diced fresh rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour, divided
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup butter or real margarine

Combine the rhubarb, sugar, and 3 tablespoons flour. Place in a greased 13X9X2" baking pan. In large bowl, combine the 1 1/2 cups flour, the brown sugar, and oats. Cut in the butter until medium crumbs are formed. Sprinkle crumb mixture over the rhubarb mixture in the pan. Bake at 375º for 40 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender and bubbly and topping is golden brown. Serve warm or cold, with vanilla ice cream if desired. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

I found this rhubarb crisp recipe nearly 30 years ago in a wonderful dessert cookbook given me by an aunt. It is easy and delicious -- a real taste of springtime in new England!

RHUBARB PUDDING CAKE

4 cups diced rhubarb
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or real margarine, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

In medium saucepan, cook rhubarb, 3/4 cup sugar, orange juice, and water over medium heat until tender. Keep mixture warm while preparing cake batter.

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar, using electric mixer at medium speed. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture. Pour batter into a greased 9-inch square baking dish. Spoon the hot rhubarb sauce over the batter. Bake at 350º for 45 minutes. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

My family just loves rhubarb desserts and eagerly awaits the
appearance of rhubarb every spring. This tangy pudding cake is one of our favorites.

Here's a very different rhubarb pie which my family really loves.  The recipe came from Karyl Bannister's Cook & Tell many years ago.  It's sort of a variation on rhubarb custard pie and is fabulous.

LETITIA'S RHUBARB PIE

First, bake this Pat-in-Pan Crust.

1 cup flour
2 Tblsp. confectioners sugar
Dash of salt
1/2 cup butter

Sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter with pastry blender. Press this crumbly mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a preheated 350º oven. If pastry seems to get too puffy, press it down lightly with the back of a spoon.

For the filling,
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
2 Tblsp. flour
Dash of salt
2 1/2 cups diced rhubarb

Beat egg yolks lightly. Add cream, sugar, flour & salt. Beat just until blended and thickened. Fold in rhubarb. Pour into baked Pat-in-Pan crust. Bake in preheated 325º oven for 40-50 minutes, until set. Serve at room temperature.

I used to make this one all the time and had sort of forgotten about it. It's so quick and easy and very, very good.

FRANK'S RHUBARB COBBLER

4 cups sliced rhubarb (sliced 1/2 to 1 inch thick)
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tblsp. flour
-------------------
1 cup flour
3 Tblsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 Tblsp. chilled butter
1/2 cup cream or milk

Heat oven to 400º. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Put the first 3 ingredients in the prepared plate and toss them together lightly. Place the pie plate into the oven for 7 minutes (or longer) while you prepare the dough.

For dough, sift flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the particles are the size of tiny peas. Make a well in the mixture and add the cream. Stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll or pat it out to a diameter slightly smaller than the pie plate. Remove the rhubarb from the oven and place the rolled-out dough on top of it. Make several slits in the dough with a sharp knife.

Return the cobbler to the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the dough is a rich golden brown and the rhubarb is tender and juicy. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

And one more....

FABULOUS FOUR-FRUIT CRUMBLE

3 cups diced rhubarb
2 medium apples, chopped
1 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)
1 cup raspberries (frozen or fresh)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

TOPPING:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup canola oil

Combine fruit, sugar and flour; place in greased 13x9x2” baking dish. Combine brown sugar, oats, and flour; mix in oil until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit mixture. Bake at 375º for 40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.
Yield: 10-12 servings.

Hope your family enjoys these rhubarb recipes if you give one or more of them a try!