Spring is in the air!

WOOHOO!! Finally! Spring is here! We had a lovely weekend of being in the sun! Charlie enjoyed it too, meaning he jumped into every body of water, no matter the size. He was one happy pup!

Another way to tell that Spring is here, strawberries are on sale! Yes! And, what's more, the store had some very good looking rhubarb too. You know what that means! Yup, the first strawberry rhubarb pie of the season is currently being made in my kitchen. I know, I should be in there right now, but I have to let things sit a bit before I can put the pieces together. Basically, that means, I have to let the crust cool enough before I can roll it out. This will be a two part, maybe even a three part post, simply because I'm so excited about this pie! It is my absolute favorite pie! Oh, and it is Markus' favorite too :).

For the crust:

(notice the Jif dad!)

Since I can't just run out to the store and buy a ready made pie crust, I must make them myself. However, luckily, I have the pie crust making gene. My mother always told me that it takes a certain gene to be able to make a pie crust. Either you can make one, or you can't. Trust me, I can. Before I got my lovely food processor, I sat here cutting the damn butter into the flour, then the shortening into the butter...such a hassle, but it always came out lovely. Now that I have the food processor, it cuts the time tremendously.

I use a recipe out of Joy of Cooking, "Delux Butter Flaky Crust" or something like that. It's pretty easy.

2 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of sugar

into that cut 1/2 pound (2 sticks) of butter until it has pea size looking things. Very exact, I know :).

Then cut in 1/4 cup shortening.

Lastly, mix in 1/3 cup plus a couple of teaspoons of ice-cold water until smooth-ish. IT MUST BE REALLY COLD WATER! However, on a side note, I don't usually use all the water. I just eyeball it.

Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour or so.



Obviously, this isn't the exact recipe from Joy of Cooking, but I've made it so many times, that this is what I use and these are my directions :).

Now, on to the filling....my favorite.


This is everything you'll need:
3 cups of rhubarb
3 cups of strawberries
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs vanilla bean paste (optional, but it makes it REALLY good)
1 tea cinnamon


So cut up the strawberries and rhubarb (I also like to peel my rhubarb, but I don't think you have to. Oh, and NEVER eat the leaves or the roots of rhubarb as they are poisonous. There, that's my public service announcement.). Put them in a large bowl and then add everything else for the filling and mix it all together.


Alrighty, so now I must get back into the kitchen since I believe my crust is ready to be rolled out. I'll get the rest of the recipe to you in the next post...ha...what a cliffhanger!