Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Nothing like fruit when you are nursing a cold.  I made this crisp last summer and decided to whip it out again now that I have spring fever.  And a sinus infection.  I found rhubarb at whole foods.  Sure, it cost as much as my tuition to NYU, but well worth it.  This is from Ina's How Easy Is That?  To be honest if you are Ina and have a gaggle of gays at your beckon call, it is very easy.  If you are a single sick girl, it is a work of chopping, squeezing, zesting and juicing.  But again, super tasty so you only curse Ina during prep, not after.  Ina likes vanilla ice cream with hers.  Since it is not my fave I eat mine naked.  And frankly, I like it for breakfast too.

strawberry rhubarb crisp

4 Cups of rhubarb in a 1" dice
4 cups of strawberries, hulled and halved
1 1/4 cups sugar divided
1 1/2 t orange zest
1 T cornstarch
1/2 c orange juice
1 C flour
1/2 c light brown sugar
 1/2 t salt
1 c quick cooking oats, NOT instant
12 T cold butter

Preheat oven to 350
 Toss the strawberries, rhubarb, orange zest and 3/4 c sugar in a bowl.  Dissolve cornstarch in the orange juice and mix it in the fruit. Pour the fruit mixture into a 8x11 baking dish.  I always Pam everything.  Place the baking dish on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

In a mixer, combine flour, 3/4 c sugar, brown sugar, salt and oatmeal.  With the mixer on low speed add the butter in buts.  Mix until it looks like moist crumbles, or it sticks if you squeeze it together.  Sprinkle over fruit, covering completely.  Bake for an hour until bubbly and golden.

Orange Item of the Week

This has been a long drawn out unforgiving bone chilling winter.  And that was just March. I was going to pick an orange extension cord used to blow dry the car.  No, really it was warm so snow melted off of my mom's car.  Then it froze and she could not get in.  I had second thoughts on that one.   So, while I am about to make cupcakes, I thought I would sneak outside and get a picture of our crocuses.  The stamina are orange and our whole front lawn smells like saffron.  I am wondering how hard it is to harvest it....a girl has got to make a living.  Here is some flower porn to get you through your day.  Soon there will be some flour porn to get you through your week.

Orange Item of the Week

This week's orange item is from my mother, who whipped up Owlivia.  She made it for a friend at work's daughter.  I think she is adorbs, but they kinda did not get it.

Buffalo Chicken Balls

The third kind of balls we made for national Meatball Day is the mini Buffalo Chicken variety.  To say they are amazing is an understatement.  Spicy, hot and tender with a blue cheese sauce.  My mom and I have declared these as the winner.  We have crushes on the Meatball Guys now.

You are supposed to get 40 balls, we got 24.

4T butter
 1/3 cup Franks hot sauce
 1 lb ground chicken, preferably thigh meat
1 egg
1/2 celery stalk
3/4 c breadcrumbs
 1 t salt

Preheat oven to 450
Combine butter and hot sauce in pan and melt together.  Set aside and cool for 10 minutes.

 Combine the hot sauce mixture and all the ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well, and roll 3/4 inch balls.  Place them in a 9x13 baking dish that has been pamed.  The balls should touch.

Roast for 15-20 minutes.

Cool in dish for 5 then serve.

blue Cheese Dressing
3/4 c Sour cream
 1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
 1 t salt
1 T red wine vinegar

Whisk together

Orange Item of the Week

Like pretty much everyone in the northeast, I am sick of winter.  Last week I bought my mom orange tulips in a declaration that says "Up yours winter!". They look pink in the picture, but they are orange.

My Mother's Balls

Saturday was National Meatball Day.  While I was too tired to celebrate then, my mother has been whipping up balls left and right.  Joann makes crazy good meatballs already, in fact I try not to eat meat.  I stuff my face with her meatballs every time.  We found a cookbook from The Meatball Shop, located two blocks from my old apartment, and decided to make a few.  Our first offering (I use our liberally,  all I did was try them) is the Ruben Ball.  They are made with sour kraut, corned beef, rye bread, swiss cheese and have a thousand island dressing.   These meatballs are amazballs.  We are going to try Buffalo chicken balls next.   I am so excited!

Lime in the Coconut Macaroons

I got this recipe from this month's of Bon Appetite.  We are expecting about six more inches of snow tonight, so I whipped these up in an effort to encourage spring, and to tell winter to screw off.  These macaroons are a bright mouth full of lime and sunshine.  They are also amazingly light.  A perfect remedy for the white crap that is about to fall from the sky.

lime in the coconut macaroons
2 egg whites
1/4 c of sugar
1 TBS of lime zest (I added a little more)
Pinch of salt
7 oz unsweetened coconut shavings

Preheat oven to 325
Whisk egg whites and sugar until frothy.  Whisk in lime zest and salt.  Fold in coconut.  Place in heaping tablespoon s on parchment covered cookie sheets.  You should get 24, I got 22.  Bake for 18-22 minutes.

Orange item of the week

This week it is.. .  Jelly Beans!  They have an interesting place in the Cornelius household.  My mother LOVES them.  Well, the red green and yellow.  The orange, black and purple get left behind every year.  She puts them away with the decorations for Easter.  The colors she likes are pretty much like a strange form of Cornelius currency for a few months.  My mom buys a bag and then sneaks away sifting out the colors she likes  and eating strait from the bag.  She does this before dinner or even after a large meal.  Some times I had a bag for later and she sniffs them out.

getting 'punct

It has been a stressful week.  We got the fan on our oven fixed and I have been burning things left and right: a lemon cake, a meatloaf, bread....so I needed a little help destressing.  I decided to try acupuncture at a local yoga studio.  It was all well worth it!  I rolled the ankle I broke a few weeks ago and have been in pain ever since.  45 minutes of needles and the pain is greatly diminished!  I made an appointment for next week.  The nice lady with needles, Ginger, said that the effects are cumulative.  I can't wait.  We'll see what it does for my baking, if a calmer mind will help with my baking times.