Rhubarb a-plenty

No, not on my grandparents farm this time. 

Right here in our own back yard garden, we have the most abundant patch of rhubarb I think we've ever had.  And we love it.

Rhubarb is so versatile. From bread, to muffins, to pies, to custard, to cake, to sauce, it can be used many ways.

My neighbor gave me what I think is the best rhubarb cake recipe ever. So I thought I'd share it with you:

Rhubarb Cake

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup sour milk (add 1 tbsp. vinegar to a cup of milk, let stand 1 hour)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups rhubarb, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, milk, flour, soda, salt, and vanilla. Fold in the rhubarb. Pour batter in a 9-by-13-inch cake pan. You may sprinkle over the batter: 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

I made half of the recipe into muffins and the other half into this cake, baked in a deep-dish quiche pan. I sprinkled raw sugar (my favorite), mixed with a bit of cinnamon on top.

Mmmmm. On a cool, crisp day as it is here today, this is warming my kitchen and delighting us with a wonderful aroma.

Now we're going shopping for a foodsaver so I can vacuum-pack this wonderful rhubarb and keep it fresh in the freezer.

Another cake, another day.

Tutorial: Graham crackers

My friend, Barb (remember her from "Making potato soup?") made homemade graham crackers.

That fascinated me. I thought they came
in a box and never even guessed at how
they might be made.

The same was true for English muffins.
But long ago, my sister, Christine, made them and gave me the recipe. Naturally, I had to try them. They are very easy.

As are graham crackers.

So let's get started and I'll teach you how to make them. You'll never buy another box in the grocery store.

You will need:


2 cups white flour
1/2 cup graham flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp. baking soda
A sprinkle of salt

Stir all ingredients together. I used my stand mixer, but you can just use a spoon or wooden paddle.


Roll out on a cookie sheet. You can make them as thin or thick as you like and can press to reach the edges of the cookie sheet.


With a sharp knife, mark squares and prick with a fork. Bake 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven.


After removing from the oven, make your lines again.


Let cool in pan. You did it!

Now get a fresh cup of coffee or a glass of ice cold milk.


And enjoy!

Cranberry Tree responds

I heard from a reader who noted I neglected to provide the recipe for the orange bread. So this is for Stephanie:

Orange Bread
Dice 1 cup of orange peel. Cover with water and boil until tender. Add 1 cup sugar and boil gently until syrupy. (This mixture can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.)

Mix together:
1-1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons shortening
2 cups milk
4 cups flour
4 teaspons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Place into two loaf pans. Let sit for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
~~~~

While I'm at it, I heard from my friend, Mary, who responded to the Growing like weeds post.

She uses fresh mint all summer, crushing it into tea, ice tea or lemonade. She makes sun tea just using mint leaves and water and steeping it on the deck for 3 or 4 hours in the sun.

Keep those cards and letters coming, folks.

Nostalgic recipes

Searching for the orange bread recipe from 1953 that I made earlier this week, I found another oldie.

So today I made Woody's Bran Muffins, a recipe I got in 1976.

Woody's was a restaurant located right off Highway 61 in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Of course, Cottage Grove, once a suburb of 3-bedroom ramblers that all looked the same, no longer resembles what it was in the 70s, and Woody's has long since closed.

Back then, we lived in Cottage Grove in a 3-bedroom rambler, very near Woody's Restaurant. After the kids were off to school and before my husband left for the office, we loved to have breakfast there together to start the day.

They were great breakfasts: basted eggs, hash browns, an orange slice, and always a bran muffin.

And there really was a Woody.

I met Woody when his sister was a patient at Mounds Park Hospital in St. Paul. I was working there and he was visiting his sister. I told him how much we loved those wonderful bran muffins. Flattered, he offered me the recipe:


The best part about this recipe, besides how good it tastes, is that it makes enough for an army (or perhaps a restaurant), and keeps in the frig for six weeks. So when you want them fresh from the oven, voile, you have your batter all ready. Efficient, huh?

I baked some today. Mmmmmm, so good. And what great memories!

P.S. If you click inside the recipe, it will be enlarged and easy to read.