Rhubarb Cup Pies

We've been watching Pushing Daisies lately and Chuck's 'cup pies' made me crave some.  Having some more rhubarb I decided to give them a try.  The only issue being that I couldn't find a pie crust recipe with honey baked into it. 

So I made some alterations.  These are based off of Martha Stewart's rhubarb pie recipe.  I cut the amounts in half and used a muffin tin for the 'cup' size.  Some of the pies had honey brushed on the inside of the crust before the rhubarb filling was added and it definitely made a difference - a yummy, sweet difference! :) 

Before topped with the crumble and baking.

After baking for 30 minutes (a few more minutes wouldn't have hurt).

Tasty, tasty cup pies.

 The cup version is a bit more finicky, but it is nice to have a small version of pie.

Love Notes

"Essaim: Ma Lune et L'eau (Started 6-23-13, Finished 7-1-13)"
by Nate Reid for his Swarmy

Her eyes are my moon and water
they calm me
silver waves sigh into the nighttime shore
till every worry is but mist.

Soft roaring tongues make harmonicas of the beach
bending sweet tones over castles
under piers
funneling into the dreams of seashells.

Her lips are beams of hallowed light
they calm me
before them, I had worn the dense night
had roped the ocean around my neck

till the first crescent arrived

burned a hole into the darkness
white columns breaking the black sky
searching
landing upon my face
ending the collapse of gravity
with her eyes
my moon and water.

She calms me.

Rhubarb Crunch

 Rhubarb reminds me of home.

The fact that this rhubarb came from my childhood front yard and the recipe is one of my dad's favorites made this treat taste that much better.  Big city meet country rhubarb. :) Yum!

Rhubarb Crunch

1 cup flour                                    

1 cup brown sugar                       

½ cup butter, melted                        

¾ cup oatmeal                        

1 tsp cinnamon                        

5 cups rhubarb, diced

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, oatmeal and cinnamon.  Grease 9 x 13 inch pan.  Press half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of the pan and then add rhubarb.  Top with remaining oatmeal mixture.  Cook sugar, water, cornstarch and vanilla until thick and clear.  Pour this mixture over the mix in the pan.  Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes.

The tasty finished product with all the oatmeal on the bottom (oops).

Eat warm and topped with cool whip or vanilla ice cream. :)

Gaiman, Pratchett, and Adams - Oh My!

My to-read pile of books has been growing rapidly over the past few months.  Everywhere I turn there is a new book that I need to read - it's heaven.  Add a huge bathtub to read in and I'd be golden. :)

How I've managed to get this far in life without reading any works by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, or Douglas Adams is beyond me.  Where were Gaiman's books when I was a teen?  They existed, but I never heard of them...I needed a science fiction guide like I have now. :) I believe I will be able to make and break my reading goal of 50 books this year.

New Eyes

My eyes have needed new contacts for a long time - longer than I've lived in this town, longer than I've held these jobs, much longer than I should have let them go.  One plus to this need is the wonder of seeing the crisp edges of the world again.  The trees have so many branches (no leaves or greenery in this neck of the woods yet), people have facial expressions and I can recognize individuals from a fair distance, street signs are readable.  Just walking to my car after work can make me grin - I probably look like a tourist gawking at my surroundings, but the details of the historic buildings on my walk are beautiful, the lines of distinct cars down the street are beautiful, the construction of a new apartment building a few streets away is beautiful, that bird flying by that I can identify is beautiful, all because I can see it.

In addition to these benefits I can spend more time geeking out in the Whoniverse because the vision/computer induced headaches have vanished.

A fellow Whovian and I have been digging up all sorts of Doctor Who related material and been lobbing it back and forth across the internet to our mutual delight.  This Whovian was a former coworker from years back that I kept stumbling over on facebook because of their writings and nerdy nature.  Eventually we decided we needed to hang out because not doing so just seemed silly.

Now I have a fellow Whovian to pester in person, one I can actually share this nerdiness with.  In getting to know them my world has expanded, my outlook shifted, and it seems to happen every time we're together.

So not only did my vision physically change and the world sharpen, but now I have more to see. :)

How Sweet

My weekend selection: "Holy Guacamole!", "Bacon Bliss", "Dark Chocolate Pomegranate", and the day's Baker's Choice, which I believe is a Cinnamon Roll cupcake.

My coworker discovered the perfect cupcake place and we've been taking turns trekking to it during the work week for treats.  Madison Sweets is my new favorite place in town - their cupcakes are delicious and if you're ever wandering down State Street try them out.  Pictured above is my weekend haul...I deserved treats for getting myself out of my apartment. :)

Eventually I hope to try all of the varieties, but so far my favorite is the "Lemon Drop" cupcake. Maybe once I've had all four of the ones pictured above I will change my mind.

May the sweets be ever in your favor!

Potter Convert

I started "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" on January 9th and finished the series January 27th.  Admittedly I now wish I hadn't waited to read them, but to all you Potter fans that waited so long between books - you're amazing.  After finishing "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" I wallowed in the ending for about half a day - then the next morning I snatched up "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" because I didn't want to wait.  I had to know.

This was my reward for waiting so long - the ability to consume all of the Harry Potter world in less than a month.  The drawback is that I missed out on an opportunity of community geekery where everyone is sharing mutual character love or hatred, excited for plot lines to come, discussing Patronus charms, together.  A friend told me that the day the last book came out he bought a copy and settled into read it at his coffee shop - he wasn't alone.  I love the mental picture of an entire coffee shop of people with their noses in books, all going on the same journey together.  The day that book came out I was working in a University lab - there were fewer people at work that day, and no one could find one of the Chemistry professors because he'd hidden himself (and a copy of the last Harry Potter book) in the bowels of the science buildings.  No one saw him until he'd finished it.

My life is, without a doubt, better for the Harry Potter books - I've already started rereading the first book throughout the day - and I'm glad to have finally let go of whatever had been holding me back.

Harry Potter - Always.