Rhubarb Sourdough Sweet Rolls

June 11, 2020June 10, 2020 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

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Our rhubarb crop is thriving right now, and I have been in the kitchen testing out some new recipes that showcase this first-of-the-season gem. I recently fell down the sourdough rabbit hole and have been in love with all things sourdough, so this recipe features a bit of that fermentation love as well. I hope you enjoy!

Rhubarb Sourdough Sweet Rolls

In a stand mixer bowl, mix the following:

1 cup sourdough starter
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk
2 cups flour

After the ingredients are thoroughly combined, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap and add the following to the mixture:

6 tablespoons melted salted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

Attach the bowl to a stand mixer and mix with a dough hook for 1 minute.

Slowly add 2 additional cups of flour, while continuing to run the mixer on low speed. Once all the flour has been added, continue to mix on low speed for 3 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly for about 3 minutes. Then form a ball with the dough, place it into a greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Uncover and stretch and fold the dough in a circular fashion until all of the dough has been stretched and folded. Again, cover the bowl and allow to rest at room temperature for an hour. Repeat this process a total of 3 times. (Your total rest time for this step will be three hours.)

During this resting period, heat the following in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat:

3 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/ teaspoon cinnamon

Continue to cook the mixture until the rhubarb becomes tender, then remove from the heat. Once removed from the heat, add 1 teaspoon almond extract. Allow the mixture to fully cool.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and roll out into the shape of a large rectangle that is about 1/2 inch thick.

Next spread the rhubarb mixture over the entire rectangle-shaped dough.

Roll the dough, starting at one of the long ends, until you have one long roll.

Next cut the roll into 2 inch pieces. Place the pieces snuggly into a greased cast-iron skillet or greased 9 x 9 inch baking dish. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

An hour before baking, remove the rolls from the refrigerator and uncover them. Allow to rest at room temperature for an hour.

Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until the rolls become golden brown on top.

Serve and enjoy!

Handwritten

May 16, 2018May 15, 2018 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

Handwritten recipes upon note cards. In the world of recipe-ridden Pinterest, I fear this practice is falling (or has already been strewn) by the wayside. But the writing itself is so very powerful, isn’t it? When I read a recipe written in the hand of a loved one, it is as if I can see the person gently scrolling the pen across the page. Memories of that person flood my mind.

This recipe comes from my mom’s recipe box. I was filing through it, attempting to find something very different, but when my eyes fell upon this recipe I was immediately transported to my youth. I am running through the yard to catch up with my friends during a very lively game of capture the flag. My mom stoops over the rhubarb patch nestled along the south side of our house. She looks up at me and smiles. I continue my trek, scampering barefoot through the grass as my mom clips away at the stems of the bitter rhubarb.

My mom died of a very aggressive form of cancer two and a half years ago. One day she was active, smiling, putting her positive energy out into the universe and the next moment the cancer could literally be seen eating its way through her body. Even now, over two years after her passing, there are days when I am going about my daily tasks and I am suddenly hit with the most aggressive type of pain. A pain that feels as if my heart is being cut open and all that pain, hurt, and loss is spilling forth in a way that I cannot seem to mend.

The pain of this loss is real, and heavy, and raw, yet glancing at my mom’s penmanship upon this notecard grips my heart with both hands and pulls me from my emotional pit and raises me to a solid place of healing. Seeing her scrip makes me realize that the reason I feel so much heartache over her death is because of the profound love she showed me. For looking at this worn card immediately reminds me of the overflowing love that washed over me on that warm spring day when she raised her eyes from the intertwining ruby stems of the rhubarb plants in her garden and blessed me with her fervent smile.

Rhubarb Cake

My mom’s rhubarb cake recipe is one I have made for years and is a family favorite of young and old alike. I have made some minor adjustments to the original recipe (reducing the sugar content a bit and replacing the shortening with coconut oil), but the end result is still a moist, spongey cake with the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups diced rhubarb

1 ½ cup sugar

½ coconut oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

dash of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Process

In a small bowl, mix the diced rhubarb with ½ cup of sugar and let stand. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together all dry ingredients, and set aside. In a stand mixer, cream the coconut oil and remaining 1 cup of sugar. Add the egg. Slowing add in the dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternating as you add. Finally, add the vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Finally, fold in the rhubarb/sugar mixture. Pour into a loaf pan and bake for one hour to an hour and fifteen minutes at 350 degrees.

At This Moment

November 25, 2013November 24, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

At this moment, I am…

~recalling a fabulous weekend of crafting and fun.

~returning from a very early trip to the grocery store for our first round of Thanksgiving dinner shopping. A five o’clock (in the AM my friends) arrival time is a sure fire way to beat the crowds at the ole’ grocery store 🙂

~glancing at my stack of Christmas cards, and thinking I may be able to get them in the mail on Friday. Fingers crossed.

~looking forward to a short two days that my girls are in school this week. I cannot wait to spend five full days with my babies!

~preparing for my favorite holiday of the year. A day filled with family and food. What could possibly be better?

~hoping to get some sewing projects wrapped up this week.

~wishing each of you a wonderful start to your week. Have a great Monday!

At This Moment

September 9, 2013September 1, 2015 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

At this moment, I am…

~thankful for a most relaxing weekend spent with dear friends and family, while celebrating a wedding in the most beautiful of settings.

~gearing up for yet another hot, hot day. Trying to get all animals cared for, and plants watered before the sweltering heat is upon us.

~glancing around my house this morning, realizing my day needs to be spent in the throws of cleaning. Being gone all weekend did not bode well for the cleanliness of this place.

~listening to the tomatoes calling out to me. There are not many, but those that are hanging out in the garden are ripe and ready to be processed. (I think today I’ll make some tomato sauce. Nothing like a little sauce simmering on the stove for multiple hours on a ninety degree day, right?).

~enjoying this book in the wee hours of the morning and late at night after the little ones are tucked in.

~staring at the growing pile of laundry in my family room. Apparently, I should be tackling that instead of reading the above mentioned book 🙂

~wishing you all a wonderful Monday, friends!

Our Summer Kitchen

August 20, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

With the garden flourishing, there is a lot of action in our summer kitchen. Thank goodness for the cool temperatures that graced us last week! It made the whole idea of standing over multiple pots of boiling liquid all day a lot more tolerable.

Grandpa Dit’s Bread and Butter Pickles were first on the to-do list. One of my favorite canning goodies.

Preserving sweet peppers for winter. I take the time now to dice the peppers, and then freeze them in plastic freezer bags. Then in the winter I can just pull them out and add them to anything calling for some sweet pepper love.

A new one for us: Jalapeño Jam. It sure smelled good while making it. I guess we will see how it tastes in a few weeks. Fingers crossed.

After harvesting our rhubarb, I chop it up and freeze it in freezer bags so we can enjoy this spring and summer treat all winter long.

Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. I must say, our tomatoes are kind of lack luster this year, which is very disappointing because putting by tomatoes is my most favorite produce to preserve. But here is one nice sized basket I was able to garner from the garden last week. I made tomato sauce with this collection, and then froze it in our deep freeze for the winter months when throwing pasta in a pot and adding a jar of homemade tomato sauce is just what those little school girls want for dinner.

B.L.T.s I would be hard pressed to find anyone who does not think this sandwich tops the list of greatest summertime foods. The bread is from Banana Cherry Bakery, the bacon is from the hog we purchased from this farmer, the tomatoes are from our garden, and topped off with a touch of homemade mayo. (I use Jamie Oliver’s mayonnaise recipe from this cookbook.) Oh my. Delicious.

And we all know that when you eat those salty B.L.T.s you need something sweet after, right? We whipped up a batch of this amazing cinnamon sugar popcorn. Wow. It has quickly become a staple at our snack times this week.

The makings of our dinner from last night, and breakfast this morning. I love the fullness that this time of year brings. Such garden abundance is truly a blessing.

At This Moment

August 19, 2013August 18, 2013 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

At this moment, I am…

~labeling all kinds of school supplies. I still cannot believe school starts this week. Where has this summer gone? My stomach is churning as I think about it.

~harvesting rhubarb from our garden. I’m hoping to whip up some rhubarb squares later this afternoon. Yum.

~transforming a portion of our playroom into a library for my little book-lovers. More on this revamped space later this week.

~re-reading Catching Fire. Oh my. I forgot how much I love this book.

~loading up the van with needed supplies for the school garden. We are setting up an outdoor classroom space today, just in time for the start of the new school year.

~wishing we could add some more days (or weeks really) to this fleeting summer.

~hoping each of you has a wonderful start to your week.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Crisp

June 12, 2013June 11, 2013 / makingofahome / 1 Comment

‘Tis the season of strawberry and rhubarb, and our kitchen is quickly becoming laden with these early summer lovelies. This past weekend I played around a bit to come up with a variation to a traditional fruit crisp. After some experimentation, I came up with this recipe that goes together very quickly, making it the perfect dish to bring to a summer picnic or backyard barbecue.

This crisp is not overly sweet, so it allows the flavors of the sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb to shine through. Coupled with the rich, earthly flavors of the pecans and oats, this is a treat sure to please the masses.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cream Crisp

For the crumble:

1. In a food processor, pulse 1/4 cup raw pecans.

2. Add 2 cups rolled oats, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to the food processor. Pulse 2-3 times.

3. Add 1 stick of cold butter (cut into bits) and 2 tablespoons raw honey to the food processor. Pulse until a crumble forms.

4. Set aside.

For the filling:

1. Combine 2 cups strawberries (diced), 3 cups rhubarb (diced), 1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 eggs (beaten), and 1 teaspoon almond extract in a large bowl.

2. Add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the fruit mixture.

Assembling the crisp:

1. Pour the fruit mixture into a 9X9 inch pan.

2. Spread the crumble mixture over the top of the fruit.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the top of the crumble is golden brown.

Enjoy!

*A note about all my recipes: I use all organic ingredients, local when available. I use non-homogenized milk, and all of the dairy we use is from animals raised on pasture. I also use oils that are non-GMO verified. All our meat is raised locally on organic feed, and our beef is grass-fed, grass-finished. All our spices and cane sugar are fair-trade certified and purchased through a cooperative.

A Year In Review

February 15, 2013 / makingofahome / 2 Comments

It is hard to believe that this blustery day in February marks the one year anniversary of Making of a Home. Thank you so much to all of you who have been following my musings over the course of the last year! I am deeply grateful for each of you.

Today I would like to share with you some of my favorite (and your favorite) posts from this past year. Thank you again, and be on the look out for some new and exciting changes and additions to Making of a Home over the course of the next year.

Chocolate Anyone?

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Pastaless Lasagna

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Fuasa—Italian Easter Bread

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Generational Wealth

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Farm Fresh

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Ode to the Strawberry

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Retreat

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Grandma Dit’s Carrot Cake

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Canning Day

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New Chapter

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Suburban Homestead

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Walk with Us

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Thanksgiving 2012

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Musings

Late Fall Planting

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

The week of Thanksgiving, we abandoned the warmth of our kitchen to do a bit of gardening. We recently acquired asparagus and rhubarb crowns, and wanted to get them into the ground before the first major freeze of the season. So, we took advantage of a seasonably warm afternoon, stepped into our gardening shoes, and dug our fingers into the cool, damp soil.

First on the docket was to sort through our worms from our compost. The girls and Tyler picked out each individual wormy (as the girls like to call them), and placed them into a fresh compost bin that would be moved inside for the winter. Then the amazing, black gold was used in the trenches that would house the asparagus roots.

The girls then helped me to separate the asparagus roots, which we concluded look just like how we imagine aliens to look, and placed them deep beneath the surface of the soil. We did the same with the rhubarb crowns, burying them underneath the black earth in hopes they will produce delicious spring vegetation in a few months.

Putting Food By: Pesto

July 18, 2012July 16, 2012 / makingofahome / Leave a comment

“Would you say your pesto is the besto?” ~Friends

Each and every time I watched Friends in college, snuggled up on the couch with my roomies, and heard Phoebe say this line, I roared with laughter. Well, let’s face it, I pretty much laughed like crazy any time I watched that show. But looking back, the funniest part is when I was in college, I had no idea what pesto even was!

Now that I have discovered the wonderful world of pesto, I definitely would not say my pesto is the besto, but by golly it is pretty darn tasty. I love, love, love making pesto in giant batches and freezing it for use in the winter months. It helps to bring that lovely basil taste that reminds me so much of summer to the table when the heat is on and the snow is falling outside.

The particular batch I made this weekend had toasted walnuts, basil, swiss chard, garlic, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and salt. But the great thing about pesto is you can use a wide variety of nuts and/or greens and the pesto will turn out great.

When I freeze my pesto, I put it in 8oz, freezer safe, glass jelly jars. I fill each jar to 1 inch from the top (to allow for expansion in the freezer). It freezes beautifully this way, defrosts easily and allows for easy preparation when you pop it out of the freezer at a later date.

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Some of our favorite home preservation books are:

Putting Food By by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg and Beatrice Vaughan

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (There are some great canning recipes scattered throughout the piece.)

The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader