It's that time of the year. You know the time. Right after the clocks spring forward, days start getting longer, and there are hints of warm days ahead. I start to crave fresh produce and exercise. I'm not crazy - I don't want that much exercise, but the Wii Fit starts getting used again.
Five more weeks in Texas before I move to my Summer Palace in Minnesota. I'm picking out vegetables to grow there this year - I might try lettuce, spinach, carrots, and radishes in addition to the green onions and tomatoes this year. Maybe I'll move the big whiskey barrel to a sunny spot and plant the veggies in it - I can call it my salad barrel.
I was perusing http://www.foodnetwork.com/ this afternoon in search of some springtime recipes to try, and looked to see what was in season. Rhubarb topped the list, along with asparagus. I thought about the moist & delicious loaf of rhubarb bread that my sister-in-law Monica gave me last year, and decided it was high time to make my own. Two loaves ought to do it - one for me and one to take to work on Monday to share.
I got a couple of recipes from Monica and headed to the store. I was looking for fresh rhubarb, but would settle for frozen. The frozen fruit section had raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, mango, peaches but no rhubarb, so I headed to the fresh produce section. A nice employee asked me if I was finding everything I needed, so I asked him for rhubarb. A puzzled look came over his face and he started moving through the produce section. He finally asked someone else, and they said "we don't carry rhubarb here - it just doesn't sell".
Now I grew up in a place where almost everyone had a rhubarb patch in their backyard that their parents had started many years ago. Rhubarb is wonderful as long as you pair it with sugar, otherwise it's really an acquired taste.
Feeling sorry for myself, I headed home, thinking again about the food items I can never seem to find in the local grocery stores. I practically peed myself when the stores started carrying pancetta AND proscuitto.
Here in Texas, I can't get rhubarb. Or Giant Sunflower Seeds (except I order them directly from the company and have them shipped). I can never seem to find Manchego cheese, or Fontina for that matter. Marscapone - forget about it. I can get all of those in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota though, at Central Market, the one and only grocery store in town. I can also get oxtails and suet in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota (I never have, but I could if I wanted to). And lamb - I can get it at the Halal shop in Pelican Rapids, but never see it in Texas except at the specialty markets. I can also get walleye in Minnesota. I'm not sure people have heard of walleye here in Texas.
Both places excel in Mexican food, although I think Larry's Supermarket in Pelican Rapids might do a better job at the authentic stuff, dedicated a large section to the stuff (there is a large Mexican population there, as well as a Somali, Vietnamese, and Norwegian influence.
I like my scrambled eggs with chives, and I've had to make do in Texas with the dry kind. As soon as I arrive in Minnesota though, I'll have fresh chives in abundance. I even cut the whole clump back las summer when it got a little unmanageable, and it grew back in a week or so.
In my backyard the climbing rose is about to bloom. And the chocolate mint is showing its fragrant little leaves to the sun. I've planted radishes, spinach, and green onions in a big pot, hoping I'll be able to harvest them before I leave for Minnesota. And I've started basil that I plan on taking with me to hold me over until mid-summer, when the basil in my garden gets big enough to harvest. And the catnip may go into a pot for my pet sitter to water this summer and for her to treat my cats with while I'm gone.
Here are the recipes Monica sent me today. I can't try them out because I CAN'T FIND RHUBARB!
Rhubarb Coffee Cake
1/2 c. butter
1-1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/2 c flour
3 cups rhubarb, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c walnuts
Mix butter, sugar, egg, buttermilk, vanilla, soda, salt, flour and rhubarb and pour into greased 13x9 pan.
Sprinkle with the brown sugar and nuts. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees. While cake is still hot, spread
with the following topping which has been cooked until sugar is dissolved - about 3-4 minutes.
1/2 c butter
1/2 c light cream or evaporated milk
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Rhubarb Bars
3 cups rhubarb
1.5 cups sugar
2 Tbl cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
Dissolve cornstarch in the water and add to the rhubarb and sugar. Cook until thick and cool slightly.
1.5 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
Combine the crust ingredients and press 3/4 of mixture into the bottom of a 13 X 9 pan. Spread filling over the crust. Sprinkle the rest of the crust over filling.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
