Rhubarb and Strawberry Pie. I'm not out of season, YOU'RE out of season.

Usually, strawberry-rhubarb pie would be something to eat early in the summer.  If you grow rhubarb, you know it's best to pick it before the end of July.  However, I inherited a MASSIVE rhubarb plant from the last inhabitant of this place and it needed trimmed back.  Badly.  So while we were pulling the large green stalks off of the plant, I saved a few of the smaller, pinker ones in the center to make a pie with.

Now, I think rhubarb pie is gross.  And I think strawberry pie is gross.  Somehow, when you mix the two together, they become some sort of delicious magical treat.  The tartness of the rhubarb mixes with the sweetness of the strawberries and they balance one another out.  Next time I will probably go ahead and add the tapioca like most recipes suggest.  Corn starch and flour don't work like they do for apple pie, because the berries and rhubarb become extremely liquid.  Fortunately for me, most of the liquid spilled out into the pie pan where slices had been removed and left the actual pie, keeping it from turning into a soggy mess.

Pies- now with better lighting!

I used all the rhubarb and strawberries I had (a whole pound of strawberries!) and I think it still could have used more filling, but it was pretty tasty.

 *****

In other news our move to Sellwood has gone mostly very well.  A friend helped us with big furniture, but we have done most of it ourselves without any help.  Both of us have lost enough weight carrying things up the steps here to afford eating pie for breakfast.  We are not quite done yet but we will be probably by the end of the week.

A strange phenomenon has occurred, though.  Balloon and Furball no longer fight.  They are more like partners in crime, now.  They are both allowed to go outside (collars on, during daylight) and they seem a thousand times happier for it, though they act like snotty teenagers and pretend not to know us when they are outside.  All calls and temptations with food or treats fall on deaf ears until they are good and ready.

There are lots of other neighborhood cats, too.  Word traveled fast in the cat community, and once I gave treats to one, more came to say hi!  The neighbors have a tiny grey cat named Priscilla.  She might weigh 5 pounds and I think she's an adult.  Another cat without a name tag (Just a Multco registration tag) came to say hi.  I couldn't believe it; he was a beautiful cross-eyed Balinese!  Furball doesn't like the Balinese...colorpoint envy?  Zach said other cats had come during the day while I was at work, so I think there will be more.

For now here's a picture of our dining room, still not totally unpacked.  (Enlarge the picture, we totally have a framed photo of Ms T and her husband from our wedding.)

Blackberry Recipes for Indian Summer

Its a well-known secret that in August in Oregon, blackberries grow everywhere.  You can pay to U-pick them at a farm (along with blueberries and raspberries), but lots of people know a place where they grow wild.  Indeed I have my own secret spot; an almost unlimited supply of them during the month of August. And if you don't mind tearing your clothes and getting minor flesh wounds from thorn poke-age, you should look yourself!  No, I won't tell you where.  Not a chance.

So given pounds and pounds of blackberries, what would YOU make?

Cobbler:  For my cobbler, I used an old standard, Betty Crocker.  Its like a batter+fruit.  I found out I don't really like cobbler, but my husband liked it.  He's not really hard to please.

Pie:  Yesterday I made a pie.  I used this one.  I added peaches as well.  Do take the advice of the reviewer who added lemon juice, it adds much needed tartness to the pie.

Crisp:  This is still in the works, though I have to admit that its a much healthier dessert than pie.  Using rolled oats and 1/3 the butter, its a great alternative for those on a diet.  Updates later on the taste.

Don't have a blackberry patch?  Substitute frozen.  While I probably wouldn't eat frozen blackberries raw, when they are cooked there isn't really a noticeable difference...

Laziness pie.

Yesterday I decided to make a pie.  I think I was in a good mood because it was sunny and Zach and I had a day off together.  Sadly, none of those things were still true today.  And some bad kids gave me a cold.  Oops, I meant "some kids gave me a bad cold".

But at least I still have my pie...I have to say I'm getting great at all butter crusts.  I don't use shortening usually because it's supposed to be terrible for you.  Butter is real, etc.  I just think it tastes better, really.   I find after getting used to an all-butter crust, putting in shortening makes it super bland.  That being said, it's been a long time since my last pie, and I just looked up a random all-butter recipe as a refresher.  After I had made it, I realized it was for only one crust!  Crap.  It was 10:30, I had to get up for work, and I still wanted pie.

Dutch apple pie to the rescue!  Five stars, indeed.  I may never make a regular two-crust pie again.  I did cut way back on the nutmeg, though.  Because ew, nutmeg.  I think I shook the shaker once on top of 5 cups of apples just to say it was in there.  Why is it called Dutch Apple Pie anyway?  I'm guessing it has more to do with Pennsylvania Dutch and less to do with Netherlands Dutch.

I tend to bake pies on top of a cookie sheet in case they leak...

 I'm gonna need ideas for strawberry-rhubarb soon.  Sounds like a great summertime pie.

Sweet Potato Pie

I'm really against wasting food, and now that I can afford to just buy more food, I'm trying extra hard to not be wasteful.  So, what to do with 2 extra sweet potatoes in your fridge?  Well you could bake them, or you could bake them into a PIE. This was my first attempt at sweet potato pie, and my first pie for at least six months.  The crust is an all-butter recipe.  Its crispy and I like it, but it might be worth it to try one with shortening in the future.  The recipe is much like pumpkin pie, but working with fresh sweet potatoes is much more managable than either a pumpkin or a butternut squash.  Easy to make in an evening with ingredients you probably have already, great for the holiday weekend.  Happy 4th of July!