Looking forward to Spring

Looking forward to Spring

Featured Recipe:  Rhubarb Torte

Spring is just around the corner.  Melting snow, added hours of sunlight, it all means that soon enough Spring will be in full swing.  Spring in Minnesota means that rhubarb will soon be ready for harvesting.  And a bunch of rhubarb means the opportunity to make one of the best fruit desserts ever and I can't wait!  I realize that rhubarb is not your everyday fruit, but if you only make one rhubarb recipe in your lifetime, it should be this one.  This rhubarb torte has everything you want in a fruit dessert - a crunchy yummy shortbread like cookie crust, a sweet yet tart fruitiness, and a gooey custard that holds it all together.  I am a chocolate lover, but given the choice between a chocolate cake and this rhubarb torte, the rhubarb would win every time.  Really, put the oddity of rhubarb aside and make this dessert.  

This recipe is a specialty of my mother-in-law.  She grew up eating rhubarb that was grown in her own garden and has been making this rhubarb torte for lucky springtime guests for years.  No Spring family gathering would be complete without this rhubarb torte as the sweet ending. 

Rhubarb Torte

Crust:

1 cup flour

5 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter (do NOT use margarine)

1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the above ingredients as you would a pie crust and pat into a 8x8 or 9x9 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  

Filling:

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt 

2 cups diced rhubarb (overflowing 2 cups so almost three cups really)

Turn down the oven to 325 degrees.  Beat the first five ingredients together.  Add the rhubarb.  Pour the filling over the baked crust and bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes.  

Cool and serve with fresh whipped cream. 

Note:  This recipe is really too small.  When anyone in our family makes it, we double the recipe and put it in a 9x13 pan.  

A Great Way to Snack

A Great Way to Start… or Snack

Featured Recipe:  Maple Granola

I have a hard time with breakfast.  As a teenager and young adult, I didn't always eat breakfast.  Of course, I now realize the importance of a good breakfast and strive to send my kids to school well fed as best I can.  But my kids are growing boys and what they eat in the morning is not necessarily what I should be or want to be eating in the morning.  Greek yogurt and fresh berries is my standby breakfast, and while it is good, there was always something missing…. until last year when I discovered homemade Maple Granola.  This recipe was originally for a trail mix snack, and it called to mix the made granola with all sorts of things.  I found that if you skip all the mix-ins, it makes a great granola and if you add it to greek yogurt and berries it is like eating a dessert parfait for breakfast - sweet, nutty, crunchy, and creamy!  The bonus of this recipe is that my kids like this granola as a snack, especially my 13 year old.  And they like it as is - no chips or dried fruit needed.  It is also a very easy recipe, so I try to keep it on hand often so I have a great breakfast and the kids have a healthy homemade snack option!  

Maple Granola

4 cups old fashioned oats (if needed, use gluten free oats)

1/2 cup grape seed oil (the original recipe called for vegetable, but I like grape seed)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325 and line a large rimmed backing sheet with parchment paper (for easier clean-up).  In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients.  Spread on the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes.  Stir, and bake for 20-25 minutes longer or until golden brown and the nuts are toasty.  Cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.  

Note:  You can easily turn this into trail mix per the original recipe by adding anything of interest to the cooled granola.