Maple Walnut Rhubarb Crisp

Donalyn — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:20 +0000

Maple Walnut Rhubarb Crisp is everything you might think the name implies: sweet, tangy, fruity, nutty, crunchy. We have not been the least bit sorry that it took 3 batches to get it tweaked just so, because taste testing the “failed” batches has been very pleasant work – about the best kind of work, really. I was surprised to find out from readers, when I posted a rhubarb recipe in the past, that it doesn’t grow everywhere – not where it can’t get a good chill down in the wintertime, apparently. It’s also called pie plant, though I have to wonder about the first person who ever thought to make it into a pie. To begin with, the leaves are pretty poisonous, so you have to hope they didn’t try to eat those first. And just biting a big old chunk off the stalk isn’t a good idea either, because sour doesn’t even begin to describe the flavor. It will turn your mouth right inside out, it’s so puckery! I can’t imagine tasting it and thinking “Oh yeah – we’ll just throw some of this in a crust with some strawberries, sugar and stuff, and we will be good to [...]

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Donalyn — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:00:19 +0000

I know I have mentioned before that “I don’t care for bananas”. That is the nice way my Mom told me to say things. Inside I am thinking, “I hate bananas!”. But that is not polite conversation, so instead I utter more refined phrases, such as “I don’t care for bananas” I considered it proof of my deep love for my children that I squished up bananas to feed them as babies, because doing so – particularly first thing in the morning – made me want to barf. Blech. It’s a good thing that maternal instinct is so strong or they might have had coffee and cold pizza for breakfast – fortunately they got lovely banana squish. But, as we get older, our tastes change, and we might learn to appreciate a food that previously was not exactly our favorite thing on the planet. That is certainly the case for me, because I love bananas now! Bananas are fantastic. Delicious. Gob-smacking wonderful! Okay – so there is just one tiny caveat to the above statements. Chocolate. Now, I can honestly say that I love bananas when they are combined with two kinds of chocolate and baked into to a moist [...]

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