Rhubarb Pie from Sweety Pies

My son Trevor and his wife Ali are expecting their first baby, a girl, this summer.  I'm pretty excited about getting another granddaughter, especially since she'll live much closer than my other grandbabies.  I should be able to see her more often than every few months!  Years ago I taught natural birth classes, and really enjoyed it, but after I joined the "workforce" in 1996 I stopped - there just wasn't time, especially since I didn't charge enough money to really make it worth my time.  After looking at the options in our community, Trevor and Ali asked if I would do a birthing class for them.  This week we started with a little intro and discussed what they want to learn. But the first thing we did was enjoy a dinner of chicken stir fry on the front porch, and finished off with some rhubarb pie.

This recipe comes from the fun book my daughter Cara gave me for my birthday last year.  The pie was great with freshly whipped cream, and would also be great warm with ice cream.  This one is for people who enjoy the sweet-tart flavor of rhubarb.  We loved it.

Miss Maude McCracken's Rhubarb Pie (from Sweety Pies by Patty Pinner)

One 9-inch single pie crust, rolled out, fitted into a pie plate, and edge trimmed and crimped.

1-1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/4 cup orange juice (I used the juice of one large orange)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (I used regular, salted butter with great results)

4 cups trimmed red rhubarb stalks, sliced 1 inch thick (we prefer smaller chunks of rhubarb, I cut it into 1/2 inch slices)

Crumb topping

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened (I used regular butter and omitted the salt)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare the pie crust and set aside.

Combine the sugar, flour, and cloves in a medium-size, heavy saucepan and whisk until well blended.  Stir in the orange rind and juice, and the butter.  Cook over low to medium heat, stirring, until thickened and bubbly, then add the rhubarb.  Stir to coat the rhubarb, then remove from the heat and spoon the filling into the crust.  Place in the oven and bake until the rhubarb is tender and the juice bubbles, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the crumb topping.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar.  Add the butter and, using your fingertips, work it into the dry mixture until pea-sized crumbs form.

Take the pie out of the oven and sprinkle evenly with the topping.  Return to the oven and bake until the topping is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Sweety Peach Pie

In March I traveled to California to visit my daughter and her family shortly after my birthday.  When I got there, Cara gave me the delightful book Sweety Pies, An Uncommon Collection of Womanish Observations, with Pie by Patty Pinner.  The stories in this book were so fun to read that I couldn't put it down and had it finished before I headed home. Along with the stories of wit and wisdom by women in the author's life, there are beautiful pie pictures and yummy sounding recipes....but I hadn't gotten around to making any of these pies until last night.  My dear husband invited some people over for pie, so I needed to figure out what to make with what I had on hand.  There were still a few very ripe peaches in the fridge, but I wanted to try something new so I pulled out this book and found a recipe quite different from any I had made before.  This pie is a bit sweeter and less "peachy" than the baked peach pie I usually make, but it was delicious with some vanilla bean ice cream on the side.  The sugar and spice mixture was very thick when I "poured" it over the peaches, which had me worried, but after baking and mixing with the peach juice it oozed out onto the plate....yummy!

My directions here are shortened from the recipe in the book.  I am not putting in all the details of getting the crust into the pan and making a lattice top.

Mayor Ham's Brown Sugar Peach Pie 

Dough for a double crust pie

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons light corn syrup

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

5 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced ripe peaches

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• Preheat the oven to 425*
• Place rolled out pie dough in pan and put in refrigerator until ready to use.
• In a medium-size, heavy saucepan, thoroughly combine the brown sugar and flour.  Stir in the corn syrup, butter, and spices.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved.
• Arrange the peaches over the crust, then sprinkle them with the lemon juice.  Pour the brown sugar mixture evenly over the peaches.
• Roll out remaining pie dough and arrange in a lattice on top of the pie.  Crimp edges.
• Place the pie on the lowest rack in the oven and bake until the filling bubbles and the crust is golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes.  Let cool for about 20 minutes on a wire rack before serving each portion warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.