Monday, May 07, 2007, 16:09

Guaranteed to rain. . .

I have now just guaranteed that it is going to rain at 2 inches. When I was out in the horse pasture, I heard a Baltimore Oriole!

So, I went into the house and put some Elderberry jelly into a bowl and put the bowl on top of the bird feeder. The Orioles like any kind of jelly.

In years past, every time I put out jelly for the Orioles for the first time in the spring, it has rained -- and generally it has rained enough to make jelly soup -- enough rain to thin out the jelly until it only looks like colored water. . .

One can only hope.

LeAnn R. Ralph

Monday, May 07, 2007, 14:30

Lettuce and Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

I do believe that my lettuce is starting to grow! I planted it a week ago in three old galvanized washtubs Randy procured for me at the dump. . . errrr. . . collection station. In the good old days it was called a "dump." Nowadays the politically correct term is "collection station."

I love that, by the way. If people have items they no longer want but that still may have some use for someone, they take them to the collection station and put them right outside the little attendant's building. You know the old saying: "One man's trash is another man's treasure." In this case, my "treasure" is the galvanized tubs.

This year I have planted lettuce in three of the tubs. Lettuce seeds (like all seeds) need to stay moist in order to germinate, so I've been making sure that I water them a little bit every day. If it would rain, I wouldn't have to do that. But since it is stubbornly refusing to rain, I have been watering the lettuce.

I decided to plant the lettuce in tubs so it would be handy to just walk out of the back of the house whenever I want a salad. I planted three different kinds: the old standby Buttercrunch, something called Red Sails and another one called Salad Bowl. Since the Buttercrunch is a little more tender, I have put the tub on the east end of the lilacs so it will get some shade when the weather grows hotter. The other two tubs will have shade part of the day, too, although the packages assure me that those two lettuce varieties are heat resistant and slow to bolt.

I don't know why they call it "bolting" -- can't they just say "slow to go to seed?" When I think of bolting, I think of a horse taking off at top speed -- like Kajun the other night when I tried to put the halter on him.

As for the other tubs, I will plant Morning Glories in the one by the bird feeder. I am planning to plant red bell peppers in another one. And the last one will probably be planted to petunias.

I also cut the first rhubarb of the season this weekend! I used it to make Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake for the coffee we always serve after church. The rhubarb is growing by leaps and bounds. It is the Canadian Red rhubarb, and it has been responding very well to the warm weather we've been having lately. The stalks are only about 8 inches long, but of course, since it is so early in the season, the stalks are quite tender.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try. The "strawberry" is actually Strawberry Jello.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Be sure to use at least 4 cups of cut up rhubarb, otherwise the cake tends to be on the dry side. Also, if you want, you can substitute 2/3 cup of Canola oil (or another vegetable oil) for the butter in the bottom layer.

Bottom Layer:
~ 1/2 cup butter or margarine (or 2/3 cup of Canola oil or another vegetable oil)
~ 1 cup sugar
~ 2 cups flour
~ 1/2 teaspoon salt
~ 1 teaspoon baking powder
~ 1/4 cup milk
~ 2 eggs
~1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and stir in milk. Add dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. (Batter will be stiff.) Spread in the bottom of greased 9x13 pan.

Middle Layer:
~ 4 to 5 cups of rhubarb (cut up into small pieces)
~ 2 eggs
~ 1/4 cup milk
~ 2 cups sugar
~ 1 cup flour
~ 1 three-ounce package strawberry Jello

Measure rhubarb into a mixing bowl. Stir in eggs, milk, sugar and flour. Spread over bottom layer. Sprinkle the dry strawberry Jello over the rhubarb mixture.

Top Layer:
~ 1 cup flour
~ 3/4 cup brown sugar
~ 1/2 cup butter or margarine

Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl. Use a fork to cut the butter/margarine into the flour and brown sugar. Continue mixing until crumbly. Sprinkle over the rhubarb layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

For an added treat, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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LeAnn R. Ralph