I have always loved to bake. I get it from both sides of the family. Both of my grandmothers and even my Grandpa Rodgers taught me the ins and outs of putting the best recipe together and turning out a delicious treat to be enjoyed by all. My mom bakes too, but her from scratch baking is mostly pies. She is content to let her mom and now me whip up homemade cookies and such. Her signature dessert is scotcheroos. No family gathering would be complete without a pan of those chocolate topped rice krispie delights.
I, like my mom, enjoy making a good pie, but I’m still too chicken to try making the crust from scratch. My mother is the best at making a pie crust that simply melts in your mouth. I’ve watched her do it hundreds of times, even helped a little to try to get a feel for how it’s done. However, I’ve never attempted it solo. It’s something I’m going to have to try eventually, but for now, I let mom do the crust making. When she’s not there to help, I allow Pillsbury to make my crusts. They are not Phyllis Rodgers quality, but they get the job done.
Our new house came with two unexpected discoveries — an asparagus patch and a rhubarb crop. My parents have an asparagus patch in their backyard, but I never developed a taste for it growing up.
Over the past year, I have decided to give asparagus another try. It turns out I actually really like it. My future sister-in-law taught me how she prepared it, and I’ve been using her recipe to enjoy the product of our own asparagus patch.
Rhubarb is another one of those vegetables (or fruit, I guess there’s a debate) which I’m familiar with but never really enjoyed it. Grandpa and Grandma Rodgers always had a small patch at their house. They made rhubarb dishes and desserts, but I refused to eat them because I had decided I didn’t like it.
I was less excited when I realized we had a large crop of rhubarb ready for harvest at our home. I briefly wondered if I should look up recipes, but my husband, Tim, said he never cared much for rhubarb either. So I was going to just let it grow or give it away to someone who wanted it. Tim told his mom about the rhubarb, and she was immediately excited. Apparently she loves the stuff and told Tim a rhubarb pie would be really good.
The light bulb clicked in my head, and I began researching pie recipes. I looked at several different options, but I settled for a strawberry rhubarb pie — that seemed like a good one.
Wanting to impress Tim’s mom, I decided to make my parents the guinea pigs for my first pie. I also wanted mom’s excellent pie making knowledge in case I messed it up.
Well, I followed the recipe to the letter and what came out of the oven was a soupy version of a pie. I was embarrassed, but I carted it to Garwin anyway. Mom and dad still had a slice and liked it, but the runniness was definitely a downer. Mom suggested adding cornstarch, which made perfect sense to me.
The following week, I whipped up a second pie to take to Tim’s parents. I used the same recipe, but added the cornstarch as my final ingredient. I popped it in the oven and what came out was pastry perfection. I couldn’t wait for my in-laws to try it. After rave reviews, I am ready to try more rhubarb recipes. Who knew having my own patch would make me a rhubarb fan?
Contact Pam Pratt at
pampratt@newtondailynews.com