Do you have that one family recipe that you guard with your life? The one that everyone begs you for, but you’re just not willing to give up? Well, this is one such family recipe of mine. My mom made it, my grandma made it, and my great-grandma made it. In fact, this is the recipe that best defines my kitchen memories. I almost named my blog after this recipe. It means that much to me.
This recipe was passed on to me when I first left home. Grandma wrote it on a slip of scrap paper and mailed it to me while I was living in Denmark as an exchange student. I made it for my host families, who immediately begged me for the recipe. It’s a one-of-a kind. It’s the best rhubarb recipe there is, using almost five cups of chopped rhubarb. It has everything a great dessert needs: it’s served warm; it’s covered in a rich sauce; the pinwheel dough is moist and comforting; and it pairs wonderfully with vanilla ice cream. It's tangy, sweet, and like the vegetable that gives it its name, utterly unique.

If I gave you the recipe as my grandma gave it to me, I doubt you’d have much luck. The instructions reflect the hands-on learning that’s associated with a family recipe. For example, she lists all the pinwheel ingredients, and the directions simply state, “Mix in order given. This is the dough.” Yet, I had to call home to ask whether the butter was cut in like scone batter, or blended like cookie batter.

Of course, like everything I do, I have altered her recipe ever so subtly to provide a slightly healthier version of this luscious dessert. I have decreased the amount of sugar, added some extra spice, and added wheat flour. The wheat flour makes a slightly chewier pinwheel, but I think only Grandma will notice.

Lucky, lucky, lucky you! I am not only sharing our family’s most treasured recipe with you, but I have also rewritten it so that you will understand the instructions clearly. When you make this, I only ask that you give my grandma credit!

Grandma Betty’s Famous Rhubarb Pinwheels
4 cups water
3 cups organic sugar
1 cup diced rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons organic sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ cup cold butter
1 scant cup buttermilk
3 ½ cups diced rhubarb (½-inch pieces)
1/3 scant cup sugar
1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ginger

Farmers' Market Fare: whole wheat flour, butter
Fresh from My Garden: rhubarb
Local California Ingredients: buttermilk
Non-local Supermarket Ingredients: sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.


Bake in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. When your taste buds become giddy with joy, yell, “Thanks, Grandma Betty!”

Makes about 16-19 pinwheels.

Labels: family recipe, farmers market recipe, grandma's recipe, rhubarb, rhubarb dessert, rhubarb pinwheel, rhubarb pinwheel recipe, rhubarb recipe, Sacramento recipe, seasonal recipe

Utter delight awaits with this flavor-packed, blissfully fresh meal. Intensely delicious, bursting passionately with wet, bright aromas, this dish will have you licking your fingers and mumbling sweet nothings under your breath. You may even drool. It’s just that good.

The salsa alone could be gobbled feverishly. It’s packed with the season’s best fruits: crisp apples, luscious strawberries, and tangy orange. Add sinfully sweet dates, crunchy grated carrots, and a few sprigs of grassy cilantro for a harmoniously zestful fruit salsa.

I pair this with soft, fresh tortillas packed with a hint of salty Dry Jack cheese, a slice of creamy Jersey Jack, a sprinkle of earthy walnuts, and a drizzle of wet, sweet clover honey. Put the two together, and you just might begin imagining that you’re sliding down a rainbow into wonderland.

Pinch yourself. This is real.

Serve this as a light lunch, brunch, or even a snack. Go ahead. You deserve it!



Double Jack Quesadillas with Seasonal Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:
4 large strawberries, diced
½ small carrot, grated
1 small apple, diced
2 dates, diced
1 small orange, peel zested and fruit diced
2 sprigs cilantro, chopped fine
2 whole wheat tortillas
2 pumpkin spice tortillas
4 slices Jersey Jack cheese
2 Tablespoons grated Dry Jack cheese
4 Tablespoons walnuts, chopped
4 Tablespoons clover honey

Farm Fresh Ingredients: all of the above!

Use a spoon to mix the first six ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

On microwave-safe plates, lay the tortillas flat. Top each with 1 slice Jersey Jack cheese and a half tablespoon Dry Jack cheese. Place each plate in microwave and cook for about 45-seconds each, or until the cheese is melted. Remove and immediately sprinkle 1 tablespoon walnuts and 1 tablespoon honey over cheese. Fold tortilla in half to form a quesadilla. Slice each quesadilla into smaller sections and serve with ½ cup fruit salsa. Feel free to “ooh” and “mmm” as you chew!

Labels: complete meals from farmers market, dry jack cheese, farmers market recipe, fruit salsa recipe, honey, Jersey Jack cheese, quesadilla recipe, seasonal recipe, tortillas, walnuts

Strawberries and chocolate are almost mandatory ingredients to help celebrate Valentine’s Day. Chocolate has an historical reputation as an aphrodisiac. Because it contains small amounts of caffeine and plenty of sugar, chocolate certainly helps get your blood pumping. The strawberry itself was a symbol of Venus, the goddess of love, in ancient Rome. 

Whatever their magical qualities, you can be sure everyone adores the combined flavors of these romantic treats. Here’s a delightful Valentine’s Day dessert fit for Venus herself. Serve one chocolate waffle piled with strawberry sauce and whipped cream as dessert to share from a single plate, or divide the sections and serve one to each person on a tiny plate. You’ll have plenty leftover to serve up romance for breakfast the next day.

Chocolate Waffles with Chunky Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
¼ cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup oat bran
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon instant coffee grounds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk
¼ cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup heavy organic whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons sugar

Farm fresh: strawberries, walnuts, almond meal (grind whole almonds in a food processor), eggs
Locally-sourced from California: buttermilk, cream
Grocery-store (non-local): sugar, corn starch, flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, coffee, baking powder & soda, salt, canola oil, vanilla extract, oat bran

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Plug in and preheat waffle iron. Place a medium, metal mixing bowl in the freezer (you’ll use this later to make whipped cream).

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, and water. Stir occasionally, bringing mixture to a boil. Turn heat down to low and cook another two minutes. Turn off heat and set aside to cool. It will thicken as it cools.

In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients (beginning with the flour and ending with the salt). Whisk together.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour about 2/3 cup waffle batter onto waffle iron and bake according to the instructions in your waffle iron. When each waffle is done, set it directly on the oven rack. Do not overlap the waffles, or they will become soggy.

Make the whipped cream: Remove metal bowl from freezer. Pour heavy whipping cream into the bowl. Using an electric mixer beat the cream on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and sugar. Resume beating on medium speed until firm (not stiff) peaks form.

Serve waffles with strawberry sauce and a big scoop of whipped cream and love!

Makes about 8 waffles.

Labels: chocolate waffle recipe, farmers market recipe, strawberry, strawberry sauce, strawberry sauce recipe, Valentine's Day breakfast, Valentine's Day dessert, waffle recipe, whipped cream recipe