(So I know I’ve changed the focus of this blog so many times, with big breaks in the middle. But right now I’m yearning to post some of the recipes I’ve been playing with. And for the heck of it, I’ll post some of the music that was playing when I made it.)
My first entry is a standard recipe for me — strawberry rhubarb pie. But I was pleased this time with the texture of the crust and the thickness of the filling. I usually use The Joy of Cooking as a jumping off point for this pie, but I decided to look around for a new recipe. The differences are incredibly subtle, but they seemed to make a pretty big difference, particularly with how nice and solid the filling was. I’m still working on getting the crust to be flakier without using lard. But I always make my crusts with all butter, so next time I think I’ll use vegetable shortening.
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen, which adapted it from Bon Appetit. Third hand is the best! 
I’ll have more and better photos for future recipes…
Fleet Foxy Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Crust:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks minus 1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces of about a tablespoon
10 tablespoons (about) ice water
Filling:
3 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 egg plus 1 teaspoon of water, beaten (for glaze)
For crust: Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Add half of the butter pieces and use a pastry cutter to combine. Once it resembles meal, add the rest of the butter and combine with pastry cutter. Make a river through the middle of the flour mixtire and add 1-2 tablespoons of ice water at a time, mixing with your spread fingertips (in other words, don’t squeeze the dough, just fluff it). Once all the ingredients are together, gather the dough into a ball and split it into two pieces. Flatten the two balls and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For filling: Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and combine. This mixture will need to sit and be mixed every few minutes until all the corn starch is dissolved and the fruit has a nice syrupy coating.
When you’re ready to assemble: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out one piece of the dough on a floured surface. Don’t worry about adding too much flour. When it’s large enough to fit into a 9-inch pie dish liberally, fold the dough in half and transfer it to the dish. Trim away the excess dough, leaving about a centimeter all the way around. Fold the excess dough under and mold the dough into a nice ridge.
Roll out the second piece of dough and cut it into 1/2-inch wide strips. Spoon the filling into the crust and make a lattice pattern with the strips (under-over-under-over). I lay all the strips in one direction first, then add the perpendicular strips, lifting every other intersecting strip to make the lattice. I always have extra dough, so I also like to cut out some shapes with cookie cutters and place those on top of the lattice (as shown). Totally optional of course!
Trim any edges of dough and shape the edges into nice rounds. Crimp the crust any way you like. My mother always used to pinch the dough between the pinky of one hand and the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. I have a really hard time straying from that super fun and lovely process.
When you’re ready to bake: Brush the entire crust with the egg glaze, and then dust with no more than a tablespoon of sugar (I used regular sugar, but I love the look of unrefined sugar much better). Put the pie on a baking sheet, and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake until golden and the filling is bubbling (important – it must be bubbling!), which varies. I often leave it in for about an hour. A friend of mine and avid pie maker used to say he never timed the pie, but would take it out once he started to smell the strawberries. I love that idea, but just don’t burn your pie!
Transfer the pie to a rack to cool, and serve with a little bit of vanilla ice cream! One of my favorite things in the world.
I made this pie while listening to the Fleet Foxes, which always remind me of the transient farm life. Though not the most upbeat song ever, I have to post this recipe with this gorgeous song by Robin Pecknold. Enjoy!
Not a whole lot to say aside from the fact that Zion National Park is breathtaking. I find myself constantly wondering how various rocks were formed, and what makes up the rainbow of colors that occur naturally here. On our first big hike, we walked through canyons and streams, 
talking nervously about the fact that there are sometimes flash floods in the area. And on our second big day out we went to Kodachrome State Park, just outside of Bryce Canyon National Park. Kodachrome looks to me like walking on Mars. The landscape is so strange and bright orange! The rock formations are just out of this world – yet another thing that sparked me to ask, “how in the heck does that happen?!”
We also visited the National Bison Range, which is huge and located really near Arlee. I found it ironic that there were signs on the way into the range advertising “buffalo jerky” and “buffalo burgers,” but I guess the wild game aspect of the range is as important to local people as the preservation. And as I heard from many trustworthy people in the area, it is actually a necessary part of controling the area. But it still makes me sad.
In the evening we had a BBQ with some friends of theirs, and Lisa, an amazing farmer and BLM employee, brought out some sticks of dogbane, which we peeled into strands of fiber that the Native Americans used to use for weaving. I sat there peeling those sticks and felt really meditative in the process. I think these simple processes of me working with my hands and using my body have been really beneficial for my mind. But my bliss was interrupted by one of the dogs pulling a chicken out of the coop and begin chewing on it. Luckily, she was okay.
The farm also has a small flock of sheep, laying and meat chickens and a 30-year-old donkey named Daisy. Needless to say, the sounds at the farm are always entertaining.
