Sunshine and Pie

It’s definitely Spring, how do I know you ask - the apple trees are budding. It’s unlikely we will get any apples this year, our trees are only 2 years old but one can always hope. 

Like all Minnesotans, we’re staying at home, wearing masks and Zooming with our family and friends - it’s not ideal but to date, we are all still here and well. Dan made a trip to Menards for compost and wood chips to get our garden beds. He went early (it was pretty empty), wore a mask, and did that social distancing thing. He spent Sunday repairing some of the beds and prepping them - we’re ready to go. Now, all we need are plants.

I purchased seeds a while ago for the greens and herbs, garlic and fingerling potatoes. I’m not thrilled with heading to Home Depot or Menards for annuals and other veggies so thanks to my friend Wendy, who told me about the Hennepin Technical College contact-free plant sale, I ordered most of the rest of what we need from them. I’ll finish the rest of my shopping at Tonkadale, a local female-owned store that has curbside pickup!

Before anything goes in the ground tho, I’ll wait until about May 10th to avoid any frost - however it is Minnesota and anything can happen. 

While Dan was digging in the dirt I found a bag of sour cherries and some rhubarb in the freezer from last year that was begging for a chance to do something tasty - pie. From start to finish, this recipe takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to bake and if you can wait, you should let it cool a bit before slicing. While the photo/pie was not as pretty as it could be, the real thing was delicious.

Cherry Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 to 1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups rhubarb, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces

2 1/2 cups pitted and halved cherries

1 double-crust pie crust

2 tablespoons cold butter cut in bits

milk and sugar mixture for the top crust

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Make your favorite double-crust pie dough. Place the bottom crust in a pie pan. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, rhubarb, and cherries. Mix gently to coat the fruit in the dry mixture. Transfer the filling to the pie shell and dot the top with the butter. 

Place the top crust on top of the filling and seal the edges. Lightly brush the top of the crust with milk then sprinkle it with sugar.

Place the pie in the oven and bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake the pie for 30 more minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Thanks for Stopping By!