Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Cinnamon Rolls

This first recipe is seriously old, and has its roots in traditional Indiana farm cooking. A visit to most Hoosier grocery stores and farmer's markets will eventually turn up a funny-looking stack of sour stems that, when combined with sweet strawberries, make for an incredibly balanced pie.

Be forewarned: Rhubarb leaves are POISONOUS!!!! If you are using fresh rhubarb from the garden with the leaves still attached, make sure to cut far enough down the stem so that the leaves do not end up in the choppings. Hand contact will the leaves will not hurt you, only if you ingest them.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/3 cup flour

2 cups cut-up fresh rhubarb, half inch pieces (1 lb)

1 pt. strawberries, cut in half (2 cups)

1 bs. butter

Milk and sugar

In large bowl, combine sugar and flour. Add rhubarb and strawberries, tossing lightly in the sugar/flour mixture. Let stand for 30 minutes. Make a two crust pie recipe (No, I am not giving away the secret crust recipe). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pour filling into the pie crust in pie dish. Dot with thin slices of butter over the mixture. Moisten the edges of the crust with a little bit of water, and create a lattice pie crust over the top. Brush the top of the pie crust with milk, avoiding the edges (edges will burn), then sprinkle the top with a liberal amount of sugar. Bake for 50 minutes after placing the pie on a cookie sheet (tends to ooze over the edge).

Tips for the perfect lattice pie crust:

The lattice crust works well for this type of pie because it is sooo juicy, and the water from the fruit will evaporate more so with this type than a typical crust. After rolling out the bottom shell for your pie, take the remaining dough and roll out another circle of dough about the same size as the bottom shell. Using a sharp knife, cut strips of dough lengthwise about 3/4 to an inch wide. Starting with the two longest pieces of dough, make a cross in the middle of the pie. Take the next smallest sections and weave under. Continue weaving dough under and over so that it looks like a basket. Trim the edge of the pie, and push the edges down into the shell after it has been moistened with water.

Yay pie!

I'm sure you have dough left over, which means that there are crunchy, buttery cinnamon rolls to be made. I believe my great-grandmother used to make these, in pretty much the same way.

Crunchy Cinnamon Rolls

Roll out your remaining pie crust to crust thickness and width. Taking thin slices of real butter (not margarine! They didn't roll with that on the farm, yo!), place all over dough like polka-dots. Next, sprinkle the dough heavily with brown sugar, and do the same with cinnamon. Last, roll the dough tightly widthwise, like a jelly-roll, and make 1 inch thick slices with a sharp knife. Grease a pie dish, and place the rolls pin-wheel side facing up and packed tightly. Bake until light brown (yes, you have to watch them bake, no loafing.)

Yay cinnamon rolls!