July 14 - Packing and Rhubarb Pie

Getting ready to leave in the morning for a short weekend trip to Maine. Very small suitcase as it is only 2 days, but there are a few other things that need to come with me as well.

I am hoping to arrive around noon-ish tomorrow. Totally depends on 495 traffic! Always bad (congested, long lines of trucks and constant idiots), but I hope to miss the worst of it by leaving around 9:30. Not a long drive to my sister and fiance's place, about 2 hours, but I have a few quick stops to make.

Got the oil changed in my car, and the A/C recharged. The past week it was only blasting hot air at me. Not good in this weather! No leaks (my mechanic checked pretty much everything). Just an older system that requires upkeep. All set now :)

Made a rhubarb pie this afternoon! Scored Saturday at the grocery store with more rhubarb. They had 4 packages in the produce section; I bought them all. The recipe called for 4 lbs. Each package was (about) a pound. Seemed like a lot to me, but I am at best an amateur baker! This is 4 lbs. of rhubarb.

4  pounds of rhubarb

Baking is way different than cooking. When cooking you can look at a recipe, then change/modify ingredients in your head. Wing it to suit your whim and tastes. Baking is precise. It requires exact amounts of ingredients and cooking time.

Besides, you cannot "taste test" while baking the way you can with cooking (who wants to eat raw dough?? Or  a mixture of flour, sugar, etc.). Follow the recipe and cooking times to the letter, cross your fingers and hope for the best!

This is the first rhubarb pie I have made. I am usually good at pies, so I was confident. Until I started chopping, and chopping, the rhubarb. Recipe called for 4 lbs., 3 would have been plenty.

I did not make the crust (Pillsbury did!), although I do make a very good pie crust. Time crunch. Rhubarb pie is so simple to make. Sugar mixed with flour; put about 1/4 of it on the bottom crust.

Pie with flour/sugar on bottom

Rhubarb added

Cover with rhubarb, add the rest of the mix and the top crust.

Before top crust

 I opted to make a "sugar crust" - one with the big sugar sprinkles on top. Because rhubarb is so tart. That is an extra step.

No eggs in rhubarb pie, so I did a wash on the top crust with half and half. Add a few tablespoons of large crystal sugar, and cover the pie crust edge with tin foil (worst part; screws up the fluting on the crust and is time consuming).

Ready to bake!

Then.... just bake. And pray the bottom crust cooks all the way through!

I promised my sister half the pie this weekend, and my brother will also get a good chunk. No way I could eat a whole pie by myself! But I will have a good sized slice for me when I come home :)

Pie. Done.

I am really looking forward to my trip to Maine this weekend, and my sister's and my day trip to Boothbay on Saturday. My niece and her boyfried will be up there as well this weekend, so it will be a nice family weekend :)

I will post the travel blog and pictures on my return. I am sure you are tired of hearing about rhubarb!!!