I've Got A Feeling

I've got a feeling you might see a lot of recipes on here this week. I think because the weather has started to get a bit nicer, I've been cooking a lot less the past few weeks. Jeremy has been barbecuing and I've been enjoying the break. But I think this weekend was the end of my self-imposed vacation. I've recently started to really miss cooking for our family of two. So I changed that.

Saturday morning we woke up and decided it was a pancake type of morning. After seeing this entry on The Pioneer Woman last week, I decided to experiment with adding lemon to pancakes.
You must try this.

See how delicious these pancakes were? I'm tempted to make them for dinner tonight.

Recipe: Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes1 cup Bob's Red Mill Buttermilk Pancake Mix
1 egg
1 T oil
3/4 C milk (I used 1/2 and 1/2...don't judge)
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
Loads of Blueberries

Mix it all up and cook on the griddle over medium heat!

Also...pretty sure the mouthwatering effect will be the same no matter what pancake mix you use.

When the pancakes are done add some fresh berries on top, some butter, and real maple syrup.

Heaven!

Then on Sunday I had a moment in the produce section at Safeway. Right next to the strawberries were the most beautiful, bright red stalks of rhubarb I'd ever seen. I was inspired to experiment. Do you guys ever have one of those moments? When some potential ingredient in the store inspires you to create or find a whole recipe to use it? That's what happened with me and the rhubarb.

My grandmother always used to make the most delicious strawberry-rhubarb pies. So I figured she'd be very proud to hear I tried. :)

Martha Stewart had a whole slideshow full of rhubarb recipes, so it wasn't too hard to find a couple of recipes to try. I'll tell you about the second one tomorrow, but for today I'll share with you her recipe for Rhubarb-Berry Crumble.

Keep in mind when you buy rhubarb it's very tart until you cook it! Don't try to eat it plain (at least I wouldn't recommend it).

Recipe: Martha's Rhubarb-Berry CrumblesIngredients:
1.5 lbs. rhubarb, cut in 1/4 slices (like you'd cut celery)
2 cups strawberries or whatever berries you like
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 T instant tapioca
1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
2 T orange juice
pinch of salt
Crumble Topping*

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, orange zest and juice and salt. Let stand 15 minutes and stir occasionally.
Divide rhubarb mixture among 6 individual oven-proof bowls. Place on baking sheet. Sprinkle each with crumble topping.Bake until topping is golden brown and the berries underneath are bubbling. 30-35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Crumble ToppingIngredients:
6 T unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 C packed light brown sugar
1 C all-purpose flour
pinch of salt

Directions:
Put butter and brown sugar in a bowl, with an electric mixer mix until creamy. Stir in flour and salt. Work mixture with your fingers until it forms small clumps (size can range).

I hope you enjoyed this little bit on rhubarb and have been inspired to go out and buy some! It really is a unique ingredient that you can only get a couple months out of the year. So take advantage of it and make something!