RHUBARB COBBLER~ EARLY SUMMER DELIGHT!

If sass was a dessert, it would be Rhubarb Cobbler! It is sweet and tart and flavorful and pink! It has attitude! It's made from rhubarb, for heaven's sakes!

I have to tell you a funny and true story about this rhubarb cobbler...

 My photographs are not up to my normal standards, sorry!... I blame it all on the rhubarb!

So, the story begins...

KITCHEN CATCH-ALL

The antique tool box on my kitchen island is my catch-all. Not as in clutter magnet or a place to put all things without a home... but a catch-all as in a place for important things I need during meal time. And it has taken on a lighter summery look...

I love having this caddy on my island... it is decorative and very useful too! Because I have a farmhouse kitchen my decor and philosophy is laid back and functional...just like this vintage, well worn tool box!

The "kitchen workhorses", my Mikasa Italian Countryside dinner plates, are there to grab and when I am ready to put dinner on the plates! It makes me feel like a short-order cook!

 Salad plates in the same pattern are my most used dishes. They are easy to grab and go!

A small white pedestal hold a couple of sweet white bowls that are filled with tomatoes! I love to show off my produce. They are like a bouquet of flowers!

 As I use up the tomatoes they might be replaced with different white bowls to hold tiny zucchini or a small glass mason jar filled with fresh picked herbs ready to be used in a recipe.

These small blue and white plates are truly a favorite of mine. I love their size... and color!!!

If I need a spoon rest, I grab one. If I need to set a small pitcher of milk or syrup on something, I grab one! If I want to eat a breakfast cookie, I grab one! 

They look so pretty against all of my white dishes! They are easy to reach and close at hand in the tool caddy!

Old silver flatware and silver measuring spoons can be found in a pretty little white pitcher.

Why does coffee taste better when it has been stirred with a silver spoon! Ice cream tastes better too.. 

A larger ironstone pitcher holds vintage flatware with honey colored handles. These make me swoon!  Using them when just Bobby and I are eating is a simple luxury!

Next month they will be replaced with red, white and blue pieces. 

White napkins with a fun ric-rac trim are folded and laid across the edge of the toolbox. If a friend stops by for coffee or my mom comes to lunch I will have nice pressed napkins on hand!

Annabelle hydrangeas bloom in riotous bursts around our front porch.  Don't they  pair beautifully with astillbe?  A big white pitcher is filled with this snowy and showy profusion! Fresh flowers are a must at StoneGable in the summer!

The kitchen tool caddy is filled with light, bright, seasonal things I use everyday! 

Even everyday things should be beautiful!

I am participating in...
SOMEWHAT SIMPLE

Bridal Veil Tablescape

 BRIDAL VEIL TABLESCAPE

It is a perfect early afternoon on the porch. A small table is set for lunch. A mother and her precious daughter sit and share a couple of priceless hours together. It is a very exciting and happy time. The daughter has just had the first fitting of her bridal gown...

ON THE MENU~ WEEK OF JUNE 4, 2012

Can you hear the faint whisper of Spring bidding you it's soft goodbye?  Summer wants her turn!

And with the change of season comes a change in menu as well.

I want to eat fresher... lighter!  And I have an urge to stick almost any food on the grill! Smoke does wonders for a piece of meat! 

The menu this week at StoneGable is beginning to reflect Summer's appearance... and the fresh produce in the garden...

I am eating salads from the garden everyday! What a great opportunity to make delicious salad dressings that are as fresh as the greens they go on! Look for an upcoming post about making great salad dressings! You will NEVER go back to the bottle!

Some of my garden zucchinis should be ready for zucchini boats on Sunday! This is a new-to-me recipe and I can't wait to give it a try! We will be eating a lot of zucchini! They are prolific in my garden.  Look for an upcoming culinary tutorial for zucchini relish... it is really delicious!

Now, here's what's ON THE MENU...

MONDAY

Steaks On The Grill

Miz Helen's Crock Pot Au Gratin Potatoes

 Lettuce From The Garden With  Red Wine Vinaigrette

TUESDAY

Pesto Polenta Lasagna

Italian Herb Crusted Chicken

Arugula, Shaved Parmesan, Pine Nuts With Lemon Vinaigrette 

WEDNESDAY

Grilled Onion And Cheese Quesidillas 

Guacamole Salad

THURSDAY

Asian Grilled Salmon

Grilled Vegetables With Balsamic Dressing

Lettuce From The Garden With Green Goddess Dressing

FRIDAY

 StoneGable Caprese Towers

Focasia

SATURDAY

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Watermelon Wedges

SUNDAY

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Lettuce From The Garden With Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing

ALSO ON THE MENU...

Strawberry Jam

View Post

Rhubarb Cobbler

(look for post next week)

Panzanella Salad

View Post

STONEGABLE  PRINTABLE RECIPES

Steaks On The Grill

Red Wine Vinaigrette

Pesto Polenta Lasagna

Argula, Shaved Parmesan, Pine Nuts In Lemon Vinaigrette

Onion And Cheese Quesidallas

Guacamole Salad

Grilled Vegetables With Balsamic Dressing

Spanacopita

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing

OTHER RESOURCE RECIPES

Miz Helen's Crock Pot Au Gratin Potatoes

Italian Herb Crusted Chicken Chicken

I am exchanging the herbs for oregano, flat leaf parsley and a garlic salt

Asian Grilled Salmon

CULINARY TUTORIALS

StoneGable Pesto AKA Green Gold

(one of my very first posts)

Green Goddess Dressing

Caprese Towers



Now, what's ON YOUR MENU...

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Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie

SUNDAY SCRIPTURE~ JUNE 3, 2012

THE NAME OF THE LORD IS A STRONG TOWER, 

THE RIGHTEOUS RUN INTO IT AND ARE SAFE.

THE LORD IS MY ROCK, MY FORTRESS AND MY SAVIOR; MY GOD IS MY ROCK, IN WHOM I FIND PROTECTION. 

HE IS MY SHIELD, THE POWER THAT SAVES ME, AND MY PLACE OF SAFETY. 

Psalm 18:1-2

In The Garden

My favorite time in the vegetable garden at StoneGable is evening... just an hour before dusk. The colors seem so vibrant with the long rays of the setting sun streaming low over the garden.  

My camera is my constant companion, so I captured how my garden is growing...

 The garden has had a wonderful start... lots of sun, plenty of rain and good compost. We just had a big thunderstorm and the dirt has splashed EVERYWHERE!  That's life in the garden!!!!

The lettuces are thriving...

The Vidalia onions were planted early and have enjoyed quite a growth spurt...

The Candy Sweet onions and leeks were planted a couple weeks later, but they will catch up in no time!

The Rhubarb is big and hearty and loves being thinned. Look for a Rhubarb Cobbler recipe next week. My long-time friend and gardener extraordinaire, Eileen gave me this prolific plant! Thanks, Eileen!

We have tomatoes! Our early girl tomatoes will be ready to pick soon! This is great news to me as I only eat summer tomatoes!

We will have sour cherries soon, too!  My husband loves my sour cherry jam.

New to the garden this year are two barrel filled with flowers.

I filled them with the leftovers from potting my planters.

Colorful petunias, salvia, nasturtiums, lantana and verbena all have found a home out in the veggie garden!

This year we also added a couple of new birdhouses...

The finch house (foreground) sits in the middle of the garden, and the Martin house (background) is perched high on a long pole in my herb garden.

The Martin house is huge!!!! Think of it like an apartment building for an extended family of Martins.

Look for a post about my new Martin house coming soon!

The bird on the left is part of the weather vane, but the bird on the right is our resident Mockingbird.  He loves the new Martin house. He sits up there and entertains us with all of his mimicking calls. 

As we move into June, the garden will grow and change rapidly! Every day I will be able to see measurable differences.  And before long the zucchini will be prolific! Soon, this dirty little zucchini blossom with be a long slender zucchini... and then part of a great summer meal!

There is nothing better than going out to the garden to gather in dinner! 

ALL-AMERICAN MINI PIES

Summer is all about scrumptious fresh, just-picked flavors! What better place to put all those bright fruit flavors than in a pie... a cute little mini pie!

I have been a pie making machine lately. Me... the non-baker! Me... who LOVES the IDEA of baking... but  when it comes to actually making pies... not so much!  Me... who took nine years to learn how to make a descent pie crust!

My woeful pie making days are now over! Making these darling little mini pies was easy and so much F-U-N, FUN!...

It is all because of my new kitchen gadget...

The Breville Pie Maker (angel chorus singing... halo appears around Pie Maker)

I am not much of a gadget girl, but I have been flirting with the idea of buying a BPM for awhile now. When Wm-Sonoma had a $100.00 off promotion, I picked one up right away! A $49.00 investment was a terrific deal for a non baker to make towards pie making perfection!

Click HERE to visit the great folks at Wm-Sonoma and see the BPM!

I must confess my first attempts making pies with the Breville Pie Maker were NOT a smashing success. The pies came out way too brown... almost burnt on the top.

It took me another 2 tries to get what I would consider a stunning mini pie.  I did a good amount of tweaking to the recipe and technique in the instruction book but it was worth the effort!

Now just look at the little darlings I can crank out...

Here are some HELPFUL facts to know when using the Breville Pie Maker...

~ The best pies do not use homemade pie dough Yes, I AM serious... really!! Store bought, ready made pie dough makes the best crust in this machine. Now, this IS my kind of pie making!!!! 

~ The best pie tops are made from puffed pastry. Anything tastes better with puffed pastry!!! Sounds even better! The bottom crust is ready made pie dough and the tops are ready made puffed pastry. I sorta felt like I was a pie making cheater! Too easy! 

~ The filling needed to be cooked as the pie "bakes" in the machine for a short period of time... too short to cook the filling.  I cooked the filling beforehand, using frozen mixed berries, and added fresh berries when I filled the bottom crust. Again, so easy!

~ The instruction book calls for a fruit pie to be baked for 8-12  minutes.... WAY TOO LONG!  Like I said, I burnt my first couple of batches of pies. This is what worked best for me... I baked the pies for 5 minutes with the lid down, until the top of the pie was golden brown and then continued to bake them with the lid up for another 3-4 minutes until the bottom crust was done. This seemed to work perfectly!!!

~ The pies were delicious hot, right out of the pie maker. When cooled, they store well in an airtight container for a few days. We keep eating them as fast as I make them, so I don't know how they freeze.

~I have been cutting out circles (the cutters come with the pie maker) of pie crust and puffed pastry and freezing the rounds. That way I have practically no mess when I want to make pies. 

~ This is addictive! Now whenever anyone invites me for a meal, I'll volunteer to make pies for dessert!

STONEGABLE ALL-AMERICAN MINI PIES

(makes 4 mini pies)

1 package ready made, preformed pie dough

1 package puffed pastry

flour for dusting

1 1/3 cups mixed berries (I used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), thawed

3 TBS sugar

2 TBS flour

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1 TBS lemon, freshly squeezed

1/2~ 2/3 cup fresh berries (I used blueberries and raspberries)

extra berries for garnish

mint for garnish

Plug in pie maker...

Combine berries, sugar, 2 TBS flour, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small saucepan and gently stir to mix. Cook over low heat until bubbly, stirring occasionally. Cook about 5 minutes until filling gets slightly thick. Take off heat and reserve.

Flour a work surface. For some odd reason, I really LOVE to do this!

Follow directions below for each image...

1. Take pie dough out of the package and lay dough on the floured surface. 

2. Cut out 4 bottom rounds with the bottom pie crust cutter. Put aside.

 Put 1 sheet of puffed pastry from the package and lay on the floured sheet. Lightly roll the puffed pastry with a rolling pin to get rid of the creases, but do NOT stretch the pastry.  Using the "top" cutter, cut out 4 pie tops.  Set aside.

3. Press the pie dough into the bottom of the each pie cup with the "pastry press".

Fill each pie with 1/3 cup of pie filling. Add a small handful of fresh berries to the top of the filling.

Put the puffed pastry tops over the pies.

Close lid and bake for 5 minutes. Open lid and see if the pie tops are golden brown. If not, close the lid and continue to cook, checking every minute.

If the pie tops are done, leave the lid of the pie maker up and let the bottoms continue to cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, until just slightly golden.

Remove pies from pie maker to a wire rack to cool.

The Breville Pie Maker is a fantastic small kitchen appliance!

The sky is the limit when it comes to pie making....

fruit pies... meat pies... veggie pies... fruit tarts... cream pies... nut pies... tartlets... quiche...turnovers...

I am also going to see what happens when I put ready to bake biscuits, rolls, cookies dough and pizza dough in it! How about mini monkey bread, bread pudding or calzones? 

What's your favorite pie... I can whip it up for you in no time!

I am participating in...
FOODIE FRIDAY at Designs By Gollumn