Ingredients

1 double pie crust

4 C. diced rhubarb
3 C. sliced strawberries
1-1/2 C. sugar
6 T. quick-cooking tapioca
1 tsp. grated orange rind
milk or beaten egg

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Fit pie crust into 10-inch pie pan. Toss together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, and orange rind.  Spoon the fruit onto the bottom crust.

Place the top crust over the fruit.  Trim the crust to hang 1/2 inch over the edge of pie panm and fold the extra crust under.

Crimp the edges.  Brush the top crust with milk or a beaten egg and pierce in several places.
Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 400*.  Then turn down the oven to 350*F and bake for another 35 minutes.

Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 8.

Variation – Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Crumb Topping

Prepare the crumb topping by combining 1 C. all-purpose unbleached flour, 1 C. sugar, and 1 tsp. salt.

Using a pastry cutter, cut in 1/2 C. butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.

Spoon the fruit filling into bottom crust.  Top with the crumb topping, and bake as above.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients

For the base:
3 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 C. butter
2 eggs
1 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

For the filling:
4 C. cut-up rhubarb
2 C. fresh sliced strawberries (or 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen)
2 T. lemon juice
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. cornstarch

For the topping:
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. butter (1 stick)

Preparation

To prepare the base batter, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  
Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Beat eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.  Add to dry ingredients.  Spread half in 9-by-13-inch pan.

To prepare the filling, cook the rhubarb and strawberries together, then add the lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch and cook until thick.  Cool.  Spread filling on base.  Spread the rest of the batter on top of filling in small mounds.

To prepare the topping, combine the sugar, flour and butter. Crumble and put on top.

Bake at 350*F for 40 to 45 minutes.

If your family is like mine, you just can’t have enough chocolate around the house. Is there anything better than a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven? Not much, in my opinion! This Chocolate Chip Cookie from the good folks at Hershey’s is easy and delicious. Even beginning bakers or the kids can turn out a good cookie with this recipe. The other cookie recipe is for Chocolate Pecan Cookies. What a perfect combination! I don’t know about you but that is two of my favorite things. Next time you have a yen for a good cookie, get out the flour, sugar, cookie sheets, etc and get busy. In a matter of minutes your house will smell wonderful and you’ll be taking some wonderful cookies out of your oven.

HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups (12 oz pkg) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly on pan then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: Approximately 6 dozen cookies

To make bar cookies, prepare as above but spread dough into a greased 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

CHOCOLATE-PECAN COOKIES

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the unsweetened chocolate, semisweet chocolate and butter in a double boiler over hot water. Heat, stirring often, until melted and well blended. Carefully pour into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture, 1 at a time, mixing in well after each one. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt; mix well. Stir in pecans. Line cookie sheets with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto the cookie sheets about 2-inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes or until firm. Cool about one minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

A pure substance consists of a single kind of matter. It always has the same composition and the same set of properties. For example, baking soda is a single kind of matter, known chemically as sodium hydrogen carbonate. A sample of pure baking soda, regardless of its source or size, will be white solid containing 57.1% sodium, 1.2% hydrogen, 14.3% carbon, and 27.4% oxygen. The sample will dissolve in water. When heated to 270°C the sample will decompose, giving off carbon dioxide and water vapor and leaving a residue of sodium carbonate. Thus, by definition, baking soda is a pure substance because it has a constant composition and a unique set of properties that hold true for any sample of baking soda. These properties are the kinds in which we are interested. The word pure means a single substance, not a mixture of substances and the term pure also means “fit for human consumption.” Milk, whether whole, 2% fat, or skim, may be pure (fit for human consumption) by public health standards, but it is not pure in the chemical sense. Milk is a mixture of a great many substances, including water, butterfat, proteins, and sugars. Each of these substances is present in different amounts in each of the different kinds of milk.

A mixture consists of two or more pure substances. Most of the matter we see around us is composed of mixtures. Seawater contains dissolved salts; river water contains suspended mud; hard water contains salts of calcium, magnesium, and iron. Both seawater and river water also contain dissolved oxygen, without which fish and other aquatic life could not survive. Unlike the constant composition of a simple substance, the composition of a mixture can be changed. The properties of the mixture depend on the percentage of each pure substance in it.

 Steel is an example of a mixture. All steel starts with the pure substance iron. Refiners then add varying percentages of carbon, nickel, chromium, vanadium, or other substances to obtain steels of a desired hardness, tensile strength, corrosion resistance, and so on. The properties of a particular type of steel depend not only on which substances are mixed with the iron but also on the relative percentage of each of the constituents. One type of chromium-nickel steel contains 0.6% chromium and 1.25% nickel. Its surface is easily hardened, a property that makes it valuable in the manufacture of automobile gears, pistons, and transmissions. The stainless steel used in the manufacture of surgical instruments, food-processing equipments, and kitchen wares is also a mixture of iron, chromium, and nickel; it contains 18% chromium and 8% nickel. Steel with this composition can be polished to a very smooth surface and is very resistant to rusting.

We can often tell from the appearance of a sample whether it is a pure substance or mixture. For example, if river water is clouded with mud or silt particles, we know it is a mixture. If a layer of brown haze lies over a city, we know the atmosphere is mixed with pollutants. However, the appearance of a sample is not always sufficient evidence by which to judge its composition. A sample of matter may look pure without being so. For instance, air looks like a pure substance but it is actually a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gases. Rubbing alcohol is a clear, colorless liquid that looks pure but is actually a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water, both of which are clear, colorless liquids. As another example, we cannot look at a piece of metal and know whether it is pure iron or a mixture of iron with some other substance such as chromium or nickel.  

Each kind of matter possesses a number of properties by which it can be identified. These properties fall into two large categories: (1) physical properties, those that can be observed without changing the composition of the sample, and (2) chemical properties, those whose observation involves a change in composition.  Baking soda dissolves readily in water. If water is evaporated from a solution of baking soda, the baking soda is recovered unchanged; thus, solubility is a physical property. However, the decomposition of baking soda on heating is a chemical property. We can observe the decomposition of baking soda, but, after we make this observation, we no longer have baking soda. Instead we have carbon dioxide, water, and sodium carbonate. While, a physical change alters only physical properties, such as size and shape, a chemical change alters chemical properties, such as composition.

This discussion of properties points to another difference between pure substances and mixtures. A mixture can be separated into its components by differences in their physical properties. For example, a mixture of salt and sand can be separated because salt dissolves in water but sand does not. If we add water to a salt-sand mixture, the salt will dissolve, leaving the sand at the bottom of the container. If we pour off the water, the sand will remain. If we boil off the water from the salt solution, we will get the salt by itself. We have separated the two components of the mixture by a difference in their ability to dissolve in water. Thus solubility is a physical property.

Pure substances, on the other hand, can be separated into their components only by chemical changes. For example, when added to water, the pure substance sodium bicarbonate does not separate into sodium, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, although these components of sodium bicarbonate differ greatly in their solubilities in water. One of the important physical properties of a substance is its physical state at room temperature. The three physical states of matter are solid, liquid and gas. Most kinds of matter can exist in all three states. We are familiar with water as a solid (ice), a liquid, and a gas (steam). We have seen wax as a solid at room temperature and a liquid when heated. We also know that carbon dioxide exists as a solid (dry ice) too and we are aware of it as a colorless gas at higher temperatures.

The temperatures at which a given kind of matter changes from a solid to a liquid (its melting point) or from a liquid to a gas (its boiling point) are physical properties. For example, the melting point of ice (0°C) and the boiling point of water (100°C) are physical properties of the substance water. Like pure substances, mixtures can exist in the three physical states of solid, liquid, and gas. Air is a gaseous mixture of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and varying percentages of several other gases. Rubbing alcohol is a liquid mixture of approximately 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% water. Steel is a solid mixture of iron and other pure substances.

When I use boxed mixes, I usually add goodies to it to make it even better. At our house, the more goodies I can load into the batter, the better.

Before you get started, I would like to share a few important tips with you.

1. Don’t over mix the batter. It’s normal to have a few small lumps.

2. Don’t over bake. Remove the pan from the oven at the recommended time. They will finish baking in the pan.

3. Let them cool before cutting into squares. Store squares in an airtight container.

Here are 3 recipes that all use a classic box of brownie mix.

Rocky Road Torte

1 package fudge brownie mix
1 (8 ounce) milk chocolate almond bar
7.5 ounce jar of marshmallow fluff
1 1/2 pints chocolate ice cream, softened

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9″ baking pan. Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions. Let cool. Break off 9 squares of chocolate and set aside for garnish. Coarsely chop remainder. In a bowl, stir chocolate into contents of 1 jar of fluff. Fold in ice cream until blended. Freeze for 15-20 minutes or until firm. Cut crosswise into 3 equal pieces. Put 1 strip in bottom of loaf pan, pressing it down gently to cover completely. Spoon 1/2 the ice cream mixture on top; spread evenly to edges. Repeat layers, then gently press remaining brownie strip on top. Cover and freeze for 6 hours. Remove from pan and frost the sides and top of torte with remaining fluff.

Easy Cheesecake

1 package brownie mix
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare brownie mix as directed on the box. Pour into greased 13 x 9″ baking pan. Beat cream cheese with mixer until smooth. Add sugar, mixing until blended. Add egg and vanilla, blend again. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie mixture, cut through batter with knife several times for marbled effect. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until down.

Peanut Butter Cup

1 package brownie mix
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups mini peanut butter cups

Prepare brownie mix as directed on the box. Cut the miniature peanut butter cups in half, stir into batter along with miniature marshmallows. Pour into a greased 13 x 9″ baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until done.

There wasn’t a lot of money for extras or store – bought things especially sweets like cookies, cakes, or pies. Things that kids love. Not to worry. We were blessed to have as our aunt one of the finest – maybe THE finest – bakers of such things as there was in the ‘kind old state’ of Maine if not the entire New England area.

Aunt Ruth baked all of our pastries. She labored in a hot kitchen with an antiquated cook stove year round. She baked an assortment of goodies, but cookies were her specialty although her cakes were not to be discounted. She baked cakes for all occasions including every birthday for each kid. We chose the cake we wanted and Aunt Ruth made it for us with our name on it – decorating done by hand. My favorite was her chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.

She baked a variety of cookies including a wicked molasses cookie, a delicious oatmeal cookie with raisins, and, of course everyone’s favorite, her chocolate chip cookie filled with big tasty chocolate nuggets. (There were no ‘Famous Amos’ cookies in those days!)

However good these were – and they disappeared fast with six youngsters around the house – I think her favorite was her ginger snaps. My reasoning is that she baked those most often.

Now, I have mentioned the state of the kitchen she had to work in as not being the best suited for baking. How she did what she did still puzzles me. (I’ve tried baking from scratch. It isn’t an easy task.) Taking that into account, she did have a tendency to bake those ginger snaps to a rather well done state. Perhaps she liked them that way. Man, you really had to bite down hard on those babies to get a piece to break off in your mouth. Chewing them was another challenge. It was best, we learned, to let them sit in your mouth for awhile while they softened up before you started chewing on them. I say this because we hated going to the dentist and those ginger snaps were about the quickest way to earn a trip there that I know.

One winter afternoon she had labored lovingly and turned out a big batch of those ginger snaps – dozens of them if I remember correctly. Now, I have mentioned that dear Aunt Ruth had a penchant for baking this type of cookie quite firm to say the least. I don’t know what happened that day, but this particular batch had to be the firmest yet! They were rock hard.

That evening the entire family gathered at about six o’clock for dinner as was customary. (Do they do that anymore?) Seating had its pecking order. Adults, mostly men, sat in the breakfast nook, kids in the kitchen at a small table. That’s how it always was – for years. There was a further refinement of this pecking order in that each adult had his particular spot at the table, too. Of most importance to this story was the seating of my Grandfather, Fred. He sat in the far end of the table next to the window. As long as he lived that was his spot and no one had better try to sit there. It just didn’t happen. He was the Alpha male!

That night after dinner was served and eaten, hot tea and dessert was offered. Aunt Ruth proudly produced her ginger snap cookies as the evening fare. A rounded plate of them was delivered to the adult table; more than enough to go around.

One thing about my Grandfather you would notice was that he had only several teeth remaining with which to chew. There was no way he was going to bite off any amount of a ginger snap – not these particular ginger snaps especially – no matter how long he soaked them in his hot tea. I think that frustrated him somewhat because he could fare quite well with most foods even without an abundance of teeth. He had to say something about this situation; that was his way. He and Aunt Ruth had running gun battles in the teasing ways.

I, sitting at the kids’ table in the kitchen, saw him looking my way with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“Berthie,” he said, “Could you hand me my hammer?”

My Grandmother Bertha, standing in the kitchen with my Aunt Ruth, was perplexed.

“Fred,” she asked, “Why in the world would you need your hammer at the dinner table?”

“To break up this damned cookie, that’s why!” announced Fred in a voice which could be heard throughout the living area.

There was a moment of deafening silence in the house. Something was going to come of this insult. It was not to pass unnoticed by my Aunt Ruth, not to be unpunished. Action was called for.

 Aunt Ruth was the nicest person you’d ever meet. She was not the type to easily be riled. However…NEVER belittle her baking! Nor any of the products of her hand.

She reacted as quick as lightning. It could not have been faster. In one sweeping motion of her arm she launched one of those ginger snaps out of the kitchen and into the breakfast nook. Roger Clemens, with or without performance enhancers, had nothing on the speed of that cookie traveling the twenty five feet or so to its mark

That cookie – now a deadly missile – sailed out of the kitchen and into the breakfast nook like a Frisbee – no, more like a discus owing to its texture – and hit my grandfather right between the eyes. There is no describing the surprise on his face as a little trickle of blood soon appeared at the bridge of his nose.

There were about sixteen people having dinner that night including hired hands and uncles as well as six children. There were sixteen gasps as this happened. Our grandfather was the patriarch. He ruled the roost. You simply did not throw ginger snaps at him; we all knew that for sure.

Then, as quickly as the gasps died down, a rousing round of laughter began. We all laughed until tears were flowing though no one with more glee and gusto than Aunt Ruth.

However, I think my grandfather laughed hardest of all. He loved a good joke – even if it was on him! He was given a bandaid and all was forgiven. But, he never again – not once – made a disparaging remark about Aunt Ruth’s ginger snap cookies no matter how hard they were.

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CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

1 egg beaten or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Equal-Sugar Lite

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup & 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup mashed banana

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup water

1 1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl combine flour, Equal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and the 3/4 cup cocoa powder.

In a 1-quart saucepan melt butter over medium heat.  Remove from heat and stir in banana, egg, vanilla, and  1/4 cup water, stirring until blended.  Stir in flour mixture just until blended.  This mixture will be thick.  Spoon into an ungreased glass 8″ x 8″ baking pan, spreading evenly.

In same bowl, with a wire whisk, beat brown sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa and boiling water until blended.  Pour over chocolate batter.  DO NOT STIR!

Bake 35 minutes; should have some fudgy sauce on the top.  Serve warm.

Makes 8 servings.

YUMMY BANANA CAKE

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups Equal Sugar-Lite

2 eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cups finely mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, stir baking soda and baking powder into flour.  Set aside.  Cream butter and Equal together until smooth.  Add to the flour mixture.  Mix in eggs, buttermilk, bananas and vanilla.  Mix together until well blended.  Pour into a 9×13-inch baking pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick vegetable oil spray.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Topping:  Place 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 3/4 cup Splenda Granular in blender.  Blend until a very fine powder.  Using like you would powdered sugar, sprinkle over top of cake   Store any leftover in an airtight jar.

Enjoy!

AMISH CORN BAKE

2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups uncooked kernel corn
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp chopped pimento

Note: You could use frozen whole kernel corn.

Beat the egg yolks and combine with the corn, 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper, and milk. Blend well and pour into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish. Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently blend in the sour cream. Fold the sour cream mixture into the corn mixture. Sprinkle the top with the cracker crumbs that have been mixed with the butter. Dot top with the chopped pimento. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

COCONUT BUTTERMILK PIE

1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
4 tbsps butter, melted
3 tbsps flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 9-inch pie crust, lightly baked and cooled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, butter, and flour. Beat with electric mixer until well blended. Mix in the vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. Using a wire whisk, whisk in the buttermilk until well blended. Pour into the prepared pie crust and sprinkle the coconut over the top. Bake on the middle oven rack for 10 minutes at 425 degrees then lower the temperature to 350 degrees until lightly browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Note: To prevent edges of pie crust from getting too brown, loosely wrap the edge of the pie with foil before putting in the oven.

MARGIE’S OVEN BAKED CHICKEN

1 tbsp butter or margarine
2/3 cup Bisquick
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lb frying chicken, cut-up

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in an oblong baking pan 9 x 13-inches, in the oven. Mix the Bisquick with the paprika, salt and pepper; coat the chicken. Place chicken, skin sides down, in the pan. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Turn and bake until done, about 15 minutes longer.

Enjoy!