Fresh Rhubarb Pie

This recipe is so simple & freakin' delicious- the perfect mix of the sweetness of sugar & tartness of rhubarb. It's rhubarb season now, in spring and early summer. Serve with cream or ice cream. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1 1/3 cups white sugar
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust.
3. Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

(stolen from allrecipes.com)

Aunt Irene's Stuffed Cabbage

I asked her for the recipe because I got some cabbage earlier in the week. She wasn't able to post it though, so I said I'd do it for her. :)

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Boil a large head of cabbage until the leaves are soft enough to pull off. (or try microwaving) You'll need to trim down the spines of each leaf so they're flat.

Meat mixture:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 lbs. ground pork
1-2 large onions
2-3 cloves garlic crushed/chopped
1 or 2 eggs
1 C rice
salt, pepper, paprika

Mix together meat stuff, roll a heaping tablespoon full in each cabbage leaf. Usually, we do it stovetop, but it takes about 2 hours and invariably burns on the bottom. Last time I did it in the crockpot. I think it turned out well, but it took all day.

Anyway, I usually put in tomato sauce and tomato soup (the soup makes it not so tart)--depending on your size pot, maybe 2 of each. I rinse a can of sauerkraut, and add that somewhere in the middle layer. So once you get the stuffed cabbages rolled up, you set them in the pot of sauce. Probably 2 hours oven/stovetop/6-8hrs. crockpot.

Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
2 t. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
4. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake 8 minutes then let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing.
6. Remove from sheet to cool completely. (I use a paper bag.)

Roasted Kale

Delicious, seasonal & easy side dish.  I just bought it from the Farmer's market and made it tonight. yummy!

4 cups firmly packed kale

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Wash & trim kale, removing hard stems.  Toss with extra virgin olive oil.  Roast for five minutes.  Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown & becomes paper thin & brittle.  Sprinkle w. sea salt & serve immediately.

Lentil Soup

2 cups black lentils

1/2 can peeled tomatoes

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 bay leaf

3/4 cup olive oil

salt & pepper

Sort and wash lentils.  Boil for a few minutes and drain.  Plunge lentils into boiling water and add carrots, onion, garlic & bay leaf.  When halfway cooked, add crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper & oil.  Simmer until soft and creamy.  Makes 4-5 servings.  Tastes even better on the 2nd day!