Last night’s dinner (sorry only have it rolled-up, I wanted a picture of it on the plate but Madison was fussy by then)
The inspiration:
Today, I am planning what to change in my garden this year and started my seeds for: arugula, tomatoes, artichokes and a few others. I am trying to do heirloom plants as they are meant to grow in our climate and require the least amount of care. I got my seeds from http://www.richters.com/
I’ve had really good luck in the the past few years with their seeds and plants. I’ve been slowly converting our lawn into a thyme lawn (200 plugs at a time) and I’ll continue this year. The idea is to have a lawn that I don’t have to mow, would never need water (not that I ever give it any anyway but…) and is super green even in the middle of the summer. Wild thyme fits the bill, it even smells great when you walk on it. It isn’t fun to plant each individual plant (takes me several days and a really sore back) but it’ll be worth it in the end. That’s what I keep telling myself at least.
This got me thinking about what I need to finish up from last year’s frozen bounty which brings me to rhubarb. We’ll have leftovers to go with it but the star of tonight’s dinner is Rhubarb cake. So simple to make and it stays moist for several days.
Here is a good time to “talk” about flour. I really like the healthy aspect (and protein) of whole wheat flour BUT it doesn’t make for very tender baked goods. I have found a solution though. I take my regular organic white flour (mountain path has a great product) and I mix it in my flour bin with 1/3 Red Fife flour. Red Fife (for the history geeks) is a Canadian invention from around Peterborough (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fife_wheat). You can get it there if you happen to be driving by on highway #7 (http://merrylynd.com/) but also from Ottawa organics in very cute cotton bags. This flour gives a lovely nutty taste to everything and I even use it in my pastry.
Cream together; ½ cup butter, 1 ½ cup brown sugar, 1 egg and vanilla. Add; 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 T. Lemon juice, 2 cups frozen or fresh rhubarb and one cup milk. Put into a bundt pan and top with ½ cup nuts, ½ cup sugar and 1tsp. Cinnamon.
Bake at 350 for approx. 45 minutes.
{Adventuresindinner} 