Oven Safety

Maybe it's time for a more serious discussion on the topic:

Turning up the heat...

Happy WW. Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Bebop-a-rebop Rhubarb Pie

My sister's rhubarb went nuts this year.  So nuts that she cut a ridiculous amount for me and kept a ridiculous amount for herself. Neither of us had ever cooked with rhubarb. So we were left asking the question: What do we do with all of this rhubarb?

We decided to do a rhubarb pie bake-off. Of course.

We chose two different recipes. I enjoy a tart pie, so when I ran across a recipe for a raspberry rhubarb pie, I knew that was the ticket.
My sister opted for a more classic combination; a strawberry rhubarb pie. She decided to replace the double pastry crust with a graham cracker crust.  This is an ideal substitution if you are trying to bake a pie while caring for a colicky baby (read: a baby that was crying all-day-long) and while potty training a two year old.

The Contenders

Raspberry Rhubarb

Strawberry Rhubarb

Because we are both highly experienced in the field of eating. We got together to sample and to critique the results of our labors.  We discovered that both recipes were delicious, but both had some drawbacks. Here's the break down of the pros and cons to each recipe. (Links for recipes to follow)

Raspberry Rhubarb Pie:
Pros:
This pie is full of personality. The double pastry crust was buttery, flaky and suited the filling well. This was a fairly tart pie and the flavor had quite a bit of depth. We felt that the cinnamon was an interesting compliment to the raspberries. Beyond the rhubarb, this pie called for very few ingredients that weren't already in my cupboard. Major points for that. 
Cons:
The subtle notes of the rhubarb were a bit overwhelmed by the raspberries. Plus, I'm not always a fan of raspberry seeds.  Also, the crust was a bit of a pain to roll out.
Bottom line:
A nice, tart, enjoyable pie. Worth the effort that went into it.


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie:
Pros:
The flavor is sweet, tangy and pleasant. Strawberries are wonderful paired with rhubarb. The addition of the graham cracker crust added sweetness and made for more of a cobbler effect. The graham cracker also added a nice texture. Like the other pie, very few ingredients were needed from the store to make this recipe possible.
Cons:
This pie is sweet, but lacks some depth of flavor. We suspect that adding the optional orange zest would help with this. The graham cracker substitution needed some more tweaking as the crust turned out on the soggy side. My sister is still unsure of why arrowroot is preferable to a cheaper thickener like cornstarch.
Bottom line:
Definitely a sweet treat. With a little tweaking to the crust, this would be an amazing pie.

Just a word to the wise, both pies demanded vanilla ice cream. Okay, without further ado, here are the recipes:
-Raspberry Rhubarb Pie taken from Gourmet. Go there to find a dozen more rhubarb recipes that look and sound wonderful.

-Strawberry Rhubarb Pie adapted from America's Test Kitchen.

Here are some more photos from my baking process.

Jellybean was very excited to get that pie out of the oven.

Get yourself some rhubarb and Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

P.S. For your viewing pleasure:
Prairie Home Companion's Bebop-a-rebop Rhubarb Pie Commercial

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Planting Tomatoes

A couple of weeks ago, my awesome sister gave me some tomato plants that she had started from seed. When I received them from her, it was a bit cold to put them in the ground, so I waited.....a bit too long.  By the time I was ready to put them in the ground, they were looking pretty shabby.  I hadn't taken very good care of them.  I went ahead and planted them anyway, though I had written off all but one of them.  After two weeks of care, here's the break down of my 4 tomato plants:

I yanked out number 4, sans post mortem. Enter the replacement tomato plant:

My mom had found some very reasonably priced plants at Costco and gave me one. Hooray! I worry that the other three plants are jealous of the newcomer. Look at all of that gorgeous foliage.

The kids, per the usual, were very good helpers. They generously offered their services and helped me put the new plant in the ground.  Their services included: digging in the dirt, dirt transportation, flinging dirt long distances and watering.

 And a few more photos:

Have A Happy Day!

~MJ

Ladybird, Ladybird Fly Away Home

Ladybird, Ladybird fly away home

the fairy bells tinkle afar 

make haste or they'll catch you and harness you fast 

with a cobweb to Oberon's star

Happy WW! Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

5 Minute Craft: Color Your Own Wrapping Paper

We were invited to celebrate my beautiful niece's first birthday last Saturday.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a scrap of child appropriate wrapping paper in the house.  We did, however, have a bolt of plain butcher paper and lots of crayons.  Both very useful items to have around. Am I right?

First thing in the morning (which ought to explain what they are wearing), I taped a large piece of paper to the floor and let Jellybean and Buddy go nuts.  If you don't have any wrapping paper, just make some.

Buddy was certain she'd like the ABCs as well as an "Icy Monster." Apparently, that is a monster that is mean to people.

The "Icy Monster" looks pretty mean.

Buddy writes out the ABCs every chance he gets.

Jellybean, just let's the creativity flow. She's a big fan of orange, but I tried to convinced her to branch out a bit.

No, Mama. I don't want to use another color.

A fun time was had, wrapping paper was created and it turned out kind of cute to boot.  I think I'll have them color all of our wrapping paper from here on out.

 Have a Happy Day!

~MJ


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My Favorite

When D and I had been dating a while we started saying the phrase, "you're my favorite," to each other. We said it a lot, even sending messages to each other that stated: To My Favorite. When we became a family, I started having to qualify that statement.  Buddy is my favorite little Big boy. Jellybean is my favorite little girl. I guess you can't play favorites anymore when you're the Mom.
So, now I have my three very favorite people.  I feel so overwhelmed and amazingly blessed by these three people in my life.

Notice Jellybean starting to smile with her mouth full of chocolate milk.

I'm almost at a loss to describe that feeling I get when I look at that picture. I'm just so full of joy knowing that they are mine. If I had to describe what my "Happy Song" is, that would be it.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Just Hanging Around

Some of my fondest memories of childhood are those of backyard camp outs. I was a lucky girl in that I did most of my camping in a jungle hammock.  The hammock I'm talking about is probably a lot different than what just came to your mind. You see, my dad is the creator of the Clark Jungle Hammock.

Clark North American Jungle Hammock

From experience, I'll tell you that there is nothing better than a night's sleep in a Clark hammock.  The night breeze slowly rocking you to sleep, the comfort of being off of the ground...seriously, there's nothing better. They absolutely rock on backpacking trips. If you want to experience what true jealously is, bring one of these on a camp out with friends who are sleeping in tents on the ground. The next morning, they will complain loudly about sleeping on a rock all night and will secretly hate you for being well rested.

Last week, I had a fun time taking my kids to visit the Clark Jungle Hammock show room.  We got to hang out in the newest model (because we're cool like that) and visit with Grandpa.  I love being able to share one of my favorite things with my kids.

There's a little person sleeping in this one...

I'm pretty proud that this is my dad.

It's a perfect time to be thinking about a camping trip right now.  I suggest ditching the tent and getting a Clark Jungle Hammock.  If this seems like a shameless plug...it is. :)

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Signs there's a toddler hiding somewhere in the house...

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Simple Air Plant Terrarium and Mantel

I've been working on putting some decorative touches into our new home.  For a while now, we've had a blank glass coffee table that I just couldn't decide what to do with.  I saw an air plant terrarium for sale recently that really inspired me.  The terrarium for sale was too rich for my blood, but I thought I could pull something together that had a similar feel.  So, this is what I came up with.

Any lantern would do, but I really liked the look of this lantern that I purchased from a local boutique. I threw in some decorative rocks and spent some time picking out a cute little air plant to put inside.

I learned from the garden store that the grayer the air plant is, the more light it requires.  The one I chose is darker green and should need bright, indirect light. The fun thing about the air plant is that it doesn't require soil. This little one will need to be dunked in water a couple of times a week and that's it.

I've also been working on the mantel in this room.  I added a few things to it in the last week as well.

If you are wondering what was going on in the corner of the room I didn't include in the above pictures...

Yeah, that's what was happening there.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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