where i've been...

It's been a long hiatus.

I wish I could say I've been around the world and back. Machu Picchu, Galapagos Islands, the Great Wall and Angkor Wat... only in my dreams.

strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream

These babies haunted me. Yes they did. After showing up at a party, they followed me into dream world and cried out to be discovered, to be baked, to be shared.

strawberry rhubarb cobbler

For this month's Baking with Dorie baking group, Ryan of Behr Necessities chose a fantastic dessert, Cherry Rhubarb Crisp. I ended up with Strawberry Rhubarb, and I was happy with the result. This is the second time I've done a strawberry rhubarb combo dessert, and I must say, I love the tartness which the rhubarb brings. I've always loved Granny Smith apples, which you could used to substitute in, if rhubarb is unavailable.

The whole wheat biscuit topping added an earthy, wholesome quality to the cobbler, and here I substituted buttermilk instead of whole milk (which I'd forgotten to purchase.) 

The one tiny complaint is that I wish the juices had been thicker. Does that mean I should have used more cornstarch? I'm not sure, but since I have extra rhubarb, I know I'll be trying it again...

Eaten hot out of the oven, with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream... dessert heaven!

popsicle time

Inspired by posts by Simple Girl (The College BFF and Woman Extraordinaire) and justcooknyc,  I have set my mind on making ice pops for The Son today, which his last day of school.  It's a scorcher here in NJ, with an estimated high of 92º. I'd better hurry up, as there is just an hour to see if I have all the ingredients and then make the mad dash to ShopRite to get whatever I inevitably don't have.

Yeah, I don't have the main ingredient, fruit juice.

I did find some lemons languishing in the refrigerator...

They have seriously seen better days.

 I do have one set of popsicle molds.

and Ice Kabobs too.

{sms} strawberry rhubarb cobbler pie

Well this is certainly a first, having a cobbler in a pie.  I'm such a stickler for semantics, so I'm thinking, "Doesn't a cobbler necessitate NO BOTTOM CRUST?"  Looking into the definition clarifies it a bit: "a deep-dish fruit pie with a rich biscuit crust, usually only on top" (Random House Dictionary); "a deep-dish fruit pie with a thick top crust" (American Heritage Dictionary); "A baked, deep-dish fruit dessert topped with a thick biscuit crust sprinkled with sugar" (The Food Lover's Companion)  The running themes are deep-dish and thick top.  I have to enlarge my personal vision of a cobbler and give it a bottom. I've also never baked with rhubarb before so I'm quite excited to see how it turns out.

I belatedly remembered that I don't have a 2-inch dough cutter (I made biscuits once, like maybe 15 years ago?  And probably used a makeshift upside down tumbler.)  I used a cookie cutter with pretty fluted edges, but which only allowed for a depth of 1/2-inch.  Oh well, no thick top.

The pie filling came together very easily, even more so with the help of a sous chef, aka The Daughter.  She cut the strawberries.

The Family was over (three brothers, SIL, and father) so I could get some honest feedback about the cobbler pie. Brother #3 managed, in-between bites, to mumble a few times, "This is REALLY good." Brother #1, having declared earlier in the day that he loved SR Pies, gave it two thumbs up.  The Husband decided this was on his shortlist of Top Dessert.

The SIL gave me constructive feedback.  The pie filling was a bit sweet (next time I'll cut out 1/4 cup sugar) and my biscuits were dry. The fact that they started on the dry side (did you see how crumbly my dough was??) and thinner (have you ever made a 1/2-inch biscuit?) was a handicap.

I also had serious issues with the filling bubbling over and in between the crust and the pie plate.  Anyone have a solution how to solve it so that the pie can be cut properly?  That was a definite mess.  Regardless, I need to get myself a proper dough cutter and learn to make proper biscuits now, because I will definitely be making this winner of a recipe again.

Many thanks to Tracey at tracey's culinary adventures for choosing this recipe, and check out the other Cobbler Makers at Sweet Melissa Sundays.