The Lighthouse Keeper's Rhubarb Bread - Blue Monday

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The Lighthouse Keeper's Rhubarb Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I have an unapologetic love for covered bridges and lighthouses. The bridges are predictable. The lighthouses, at least the ones I've seen, are unique. Both speak to times now past and both have become redundant. Communities struggle to keep them as monuments to a proud past, but I suspect their days are numbered. Today's recipe comes from a lighthouse keeper. A lighthouse keeper was the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, its lamps and lenses. The advent of electricity sounded their death kneel and global positioning systems delivered the coup de gras. In an effort to raise funds, while recording snippets of history, lighthouse societies in various parts of the country have collected recipes that capture the meals eaten by the keepers from the 1700's through to today. This recipe comes from the children's book "The Little Traverse Light" by Elizabeth Whitney Williams. The bread is easy and delicious - really delicious. If you don't like rhubarb substitute raspberries. You won't be sorry you tried this one.

The Lighthouse Keeper's Rhubarb Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite adapted from The Little Traverse Light

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups finely diced rhubarb
Topping:
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 8x4-inch loaf pans.
2) Combine brown sugar and oil in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add egg, buttermilk, salt, baking soda, vanilla and flour. Blend until moist.
3) Fold in diced rhubarb. Turn batter into prepared loaf pans.
4) For topping, combine walnuts, cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle over batter.
5) Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Turn out onto racks and cool before slicing. Yield: 2 loaves.

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Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

Rhubarb and Red Berry Pie

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...When the family gets together there are always requests for pie in various guises. This beauty is known to the gang as Daddy's Birthday Pie. It was Bob's favorite as a child and it was his choice for dessert on his birthday. This version of the pie won best of show at the National Pie Championship. It was created by Susan Gills. Everyone other than Bob swears they dislike it and refuse it when offered. I suspect that's not so because we have a mystery in my kitchen. Let's call it the case of the mysterious shrinking pie. When we went to bed last evening only two slices had been taken from the pie. When I pulled it out for dessert this evening less than a third of the pie remained. My family has a tendency to cut slivers of pie when they think they are unobserved and this pie had been slivered to death. Folks who like tart berry pies will love this rhubarb and red berry pie. It's incredibly easy to make, but you will need lead time, so plan to begin it the night before you intend to serve it. You can use ready-made pie crusts. I make my own but my pastry comes from a recipe on the back of a can of Crisco and it's as easy to make as the filling. Here's the recipe for the mysterious shrinking pie.

Rhubarb-Strawberry-Raspberry Pie...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup fresh strawberry halves
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 cups rhubarb pieces, cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pastry for a two crust pie

Directions:
1) Mix sugar and flour in a bowl. Add berries and rhubarb and mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3) Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Pour berry mixture into pan, dot with butter and drizzle with lemon juice.
4) Cover top of pie with remaining pastry, crimping edges to seal and create a decorative border. Cut vents into pie and brush with milk.
5) Bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees F. and bake for 40 to 50 minutes longer, or until crust is golden brown.