Sunday, May 29, 2005, 17:28
Whiter Than White
I might be approaching the point where I can almost say, "now I've seen everything."
Friday evening, we finally got a break in between rain showers, so Randy and I decided to take Charlie for a bike ride. Springer Spaniels have lots of energy, and at 10 years old, Charlie still has plenty of energy to go around and is a happier dog when he has had a good run.
As soon as we got out on the road, we both noticed the windchill. The temperature was in the upper 40s, there was a wind out of the west, and we were riding into the wind.
"I'm glad I put on a sweatshirt," Randy said.
"Me too," I said.
By the time we had ridden a mile and a half out to the main road, with Charlie happily trotting, galloping and walking in double-time beside us, I was thinking that a jacket and ear muffs would have been a good idea.
"Look at my hands," Randy said.
He held out his hands. His fingers were dead white.
"I've got frostbite," he said.
Frostbite. On May 27.
Of course, my husband is more susceptible to the cold since he got frostbite on his hands during the winter many years ago, but still. Frostbite. On May 27.
"Well," I said, "if it makes you feel any better, I was just thinking that a coat and ear muffs would have been a good idea."
"I thought about gloves before we left," Randy said. "I should have put on some gloves."
On the way back, we stopped several times so Randy could pull his hands up into his sleeves and maybe get them warmed up a little bit. Charlie, panting happily, sat down beside us to wait.
"I think Charlie is the only one who isn't cold," Randy said.
By the time we got back to the house, Randy's fingers were whiter yet.
"I'll get some warm water," I said.
I got out a dishpan and filled it with tepid water. Randy put his hands in the dishpan.
"Ouch," he said. "That hurts."
A little while later, when his fingers had warmed up a bit, he added some hot water to the dishpan.
"Oh, look," he said. "I just got two fingers back."
And sure enough, two of his fingers were normal pink. And as I stood there watching, two more turned pink. It was like magic. One second they were white, and then "pop" just like that, they turned pink.
"Two more," I said.
In a few minutes, all but one finger were a normal color. And then, the last finger gave in and turned pink.
"That's better," Randy said, taking his hands out of the dishpan. "They still sting. But at least I can feel the sting. When we got back, I couldn't feel my fingers at all."
I've seen sleet in May. And a dusting of snow on the ground in May. And my dad used to talk about a May storm that dumped two feet of snow. But this is the first time I've seen frostbite in May.
Maybe it's not such a bad thing that the Farmer's Union LP truck driver filled our LP tank in April. Usually we install our window air conditioners on Memorial Day weekend. This year, turning up the furnace to take the chill out of the house sounds like a much better idea.
LeAnn R. Ralph
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Saturday, May 28, 2005, 17:48
Royal Rhubarb Pie
I did something today that I have never, ever done before.
I added red food coloring to my Canadian Red rhubarb.
Canadian Red rhubarb doesn't *need* food coloring! Or at least, my Canadian Red rhubarb has never needed food coloring in the past 10 years since we moved back here, rescued it from the pasture, and planted it by the barn. Usually the Canadian Red stalks are a rich, deep, ruby red color. Not this year. When I started to cut some rhubarb this morning, I noticed that the stalks barely had any red color to them at all.
"What is going on here?" I said to myself. "Look at my Canadian Red! It's more green than red."
Which really is strange, because the rhubarb is growing like crazy. That's why I decided I needed to cut some to get it out of the way so I can plant my Roma tomatoes. I have a small tomato bed on the south side of the barn next to the Canadian Red. The tomatoes like the southern exposure and the protection that they get from the barn well.
And then it hit me what was "wrong" with my Canadian Red. Rhubarb likes cool weather and grows well in cool weather. But the Canadian Red must also apparently need sunshine to produce the lovely ruby-red color.
"Look at my Canadian Red!" I said to Randy when I got up in the house. "It's not red!"
"No," Randy said, "it isn't."
"I'm thinking it's because we haven't had enough sunshine," I said.
The weather forecasters keep saying that this is the cloudiest, coolest spring since 1963.
"Oh, sure," Randy said, "I bet that's it. The rhubarb needs sunshine to produce some sort of sugar that gives it the red color."
A little while later, I cut up the rhubarb and started cooking it so I could make Royal Rhubarb pie. The longer the mixture cooked, the paler it got.
Royal Rhubarb pie is supposed to be a deep, rich, ruby-red, color. My cooked rhubarb ended up looking like I made the pie filling out of water I had washed the rhubarb in, rather than the rhubarb itself. (That's what my mother always said about jelly bought at the grocery store: that it tasted like it was made out of the water they washed the berries in.)
So, I reached up into the cupboard, found my little box of food coloring, and added some food coloring to the rhubarb pie filling.
The color still isn't as good as it is from the natural coloring of the Canadian Red in "normal" years, but it's better than it was!
And -- just in case you are interested, I have included the recipe for Royal Rhubarb Pie (With Easy No-Roll Pie Crust!) below.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Royal Rhubarb Pie(With Easy No-Roll Pie Crust) Recipe
by LeAnn R. Ralph
Filling:
* 2 tablespoons water
* 4 cups rhubarb (cut up)
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* a pinch of salt
* 1/4 cup milk (cream, or Half & Half)
Note: If you're using the 'old-fashioned' rhubarb with the greenish stalks, add several drops of food coloring. If you're using the Canadian Red rhubarb, there's no need for food coloring.
Make pie crust (see below) and bake the bottom shell at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
While the pie shell is baking, put rhubarb, 1 3/4 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons of water into a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from burner.
Mix 1/4 cup sugar with 3 tablespoons cornstarch and stir into the hot rhubarb mixture. Add milk (cream or Half & Half). Cook until thick.
Pour filling into the baked pie shell. Add crumble crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until crust is lightly browned. Allow to cool thoroughly before cutting.
For an added treat, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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Pie Crust:
* 3 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 2/3 cup cooking oil (I like to use Canola oil)
* 1/3 cup water or milk
Measure all ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir with a fork.
Put half of the mixture into a 10-inch pie plate and pat down with the back of a spoon (or use your fingers) to form the pie crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Mix 1/4 cup of brown sugar with the remaining pie crust and sprinkle on top of pie to form a "crumble crust." (Makes a generous crumble crust).
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the crumble crust is slightly browned.