Alex's Rhubarb Pie

Late spring and early summer in Manitoba usually brings an abundant supply of fresh rhubarb. If you don't grow your own, someone is often happy to give you some especially in exchange for a pie. Sometimes you will find some growing in abandoned homesteads where once hardworking prairie housewives gathered it to make their pies.

This recipe was given me by an older gentleman after I gave him some rhubarb to make his pies. I think it is the best rhubarb pie I have ever eaten. I am happy to share it with you.

I always make a large batch of pastry and portion it and freeze it so when I want to make something like this I just pull one from the freezer and let it thaw for about 30 minutes or overnight in the fridge. You can use your own favourite pastry recipe or a store bought one if you prefer.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Filling:

4 cups chopped rhubarb

1 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

2 Tablespoons (heaped) flour

1 Egg, lightly beaten

Combine first 4 ingredients, mixing very well until all the rhubarb is well coated, then add egg and mix again.

Topping:

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (heaped)

4 Tablespoons flour (heaped)

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine (generous)

 Blend this together as you would blend shortening or lard into the flour for pastry or biscuits

Put the filling into an unbaked pie shell;  9" works well.

Sprinkle the topping over it.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then lower temperature to 325 degrees for another 30 minutes.

Allow to cool before cutting. Can be served as is or topped with ice cream or whipped cream..

Winter Comes to Manitoba

It happens every year. Winter arrives in Manitoba. Sometimes she comes gusting full force leaving us gasping with the severity of the onslaught. Sometimes she slips in quietly with just a whisper of soft, white snow to announce her presence.

This year was somewhere in between, lots of snow and wind for a couple of days with mid-temperatures ranging from about ten above to thirty below. It doesn't really matter if it's celcius or fahrenheit when it gets that cold.

Christmas rapidly approaches; shopping is almost finished, food is planned. Only eight sleeps until the big day.

It seemed an appropriate time to sample those brandied cherries I bottled back in July. Well, I have to say that next year I will be brandy-bottling every kind of fruit I can get my hands on. The cherries are very good, but even better is what the cherries did to the brandy. It became a soft, not sweet version of i'm not sure what...but very, very good! I suspect that different kinds of alcohol with different fruit might be the answer and I look forward to experimenting with different flavour combinations.

St. Georges Trifle

Trifle is one of the favourite desserts at the St. George Christmas Dinner. It is made of alternating layers of cake, custard/pudding, berries and whipped cream. This special St. George version is made with Christmas cake in place of white or chocolate cake that I usually use. The result is a very rich but yummy dessert. Even people who normally do not like Christmas cake like this version of it.