Layered Rhubarb Cobbler Pie (TYSC #24)

Layered Rhubarb Cobbler Pie

Treat Yo' Self Challenge #24

Pies chapter

How is it possible that I haven't baked anything from my awesome Midwest Made cookbook since April?!? I mean, I've certainly been busy baking these past couple months (heaven forbid that I go a weekend without cranking on the oven!), but apparently I haven't done anything new or challenging. So today I was back at it!

I absolutely love rhubarb in the summer, and I was intrigued by this construction of this recipe. Basically it's a pie crust (parbaked) in a 9x13 pan, a layer of rhubarb filling, another layer of pie crust (with another short parbake while assembled), then a second layer of rhubarb filling with a third layer of pie crust on the top. Interesting...

So I assembled all my ingredients and got to work!

It turns out that it's actually quite hard to roll a pie crust into a 9x13 rectangle. In retrospect I probably should have rolled it too big and then cut to size, but I was worried it would be too thin and I thought it was better to follow the recipe's instructions the first time. Hence my pretty wonky looking "rectangles" of crust!

Here's the second layer of rhubarb going in: 

And here's the molten hot "cobbler pie," fresh out of the oven!

Ugh, the shrinkage on that top crust is just hideous! At this point I was just praying that the taste would make up for the unsightly appearance. Or maybe the trick is to just plate it and not serve from the pan?? Regardless, after an hour of (im)patient waiting for it to cool...

Verdict: Well, it's good. A little tart  -- which is surprising because of how very many CUPS of sugar the recipe called for, AND the fact that I've previously found several of this author's recipes to be a little too sweet for me. But mostly I was just left a little confused. First, I don't know why the middle layer was necessary. Even thought I parbaked it (following the recipe EXACTLY), it still was mushy in the middle. Second, I don't know why this was really any different from a rhubarb pie. Other than cramming in more rhubarb in the 9x13 pan than would have fit in my standard 10" deep pie pans, I wasn't sure why this format was anything special. Third, I don't know why it's called a cobbler pie. To me, a cobbler has a drop biscuit topping (which differentiates it from a crunchy crisp topping), but this was just three layers of pie crust?!  Fourth (and finally), I found the whole thing to be a little one-note. It was just a lot of rhubarb! Even just a little bit of some sort of berries would have rounded out the flavor and given the recipe a little more dimension. So, bottom line, it was good....but next time I would choose an easier construction and would add another flavor dimension to the filling. Or I would just make my beloved rhubarb crisp, or the bluebarb lime crumble I discovered from this book, instead :)

TYSC Reecap:

24. Layered Rhubarb Cobbler Pie

23. Peanut Better Blossoms *

22. Ozark Skillet Cake

21. Chocolate Revel Bars

20. Five Spice Sweet Rolls **

19. Mrs Braun's Oatmeal Cookies

18. Montana Runza

17. Iced Citrus Bundt Cake

16. Chocolate Chip Chip Shortbread

15. Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake *

14. Garlicky, butter-swirled pull-apart rolls

13. English muffin bread **

12. Next Level Rice Krispie Treats

11. Bluebarb Lime Crumble **

10. Banana Bread

9. Buckeye Bars *

8. Monster Cookies

7. Scone-top Blueberry Muffins

6. Cherry Shortcake Squares **

5. Donut Loaf

4. Coffee-caramel Monkey Bread **

3. Scotcharoos *

2. Swedish Flop *

1. Potica

* indicates my favorites 

** indicates recipes I've made at least twice already

52 hike challenge #24

Yesterday I wanted to squeeze a walk in before the day got too hot and before we had to go to town to run our weekly errands. So Doug and I just did our quick neighborhood out-and-back.  I didn't take any photos during the walk, so here is a picture of today's sunrise instead :)

The other excitement of the weekend is that we poured concrete!  We bought all the materials to expand our solar capacity, so our first step was the secure the new solar post into the ground. Mike did all the really hard work of excavating the hole, which was the real first step. Then he and our neighbor worked together to make the pole level. Here is the pre-work that they did before today:

Then today they ran this concrete mixer with bag after bag of concrete:

Then they poured each batch of wet concrete into Mike's wheelbarrow, and then it was my job to "stab" the concrete with my shovel to spread it out and make sure there were no air bubbles:

And here's our finished product!

We have to wait a few days for the concrete to fully set, then hopefully we'll be able to set up the arrays and wire it in. We are really hoping this new set-up will give us the solar capacity we need!

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up

23. 6/7/20 - 2 mi - out and back

24. 6/13/20 - 2 mi - out and back

52 hike challenge #23

This weekend has been pretty rainy so I only got one quick walk/hike in, but it was nice to get out there! Doug and I enjoyed my short out-and-back in the neighborhood.

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up

23. 6/7/20 - 2 mi - out and back

projects update

It's rare that I get my ENTIRE weekend to-do list done, so I just want to admire this for a minute:

Ahhhh, doesn't that feel good on a Sunday night?!?

So here are the updates on the projects we started recently:

(1) remember how I mentioned that I was searching for a screen door for the greenhouse? Well now I have one! I salvaged the frame, and spent about $10 for the screen material and about $10 on the hardware (hinges, latches, and pulls). It's SO nice to be able to keep the heavy door open at night (to let the fresh air in) without having to worry about bugs coming in!

(2) we also installed an extra vent directly opposite the screen door (above) to help the air flow directly into the room. Hopefully this will keep my room cooler in the hot summer months!

(3) remember how I said that Mike is working on my loft walls? I've been agonizing over doors for weeks - one door vs. two, double doors vs. french doors, side light vs. swinging wall, etc. Well I finally made a decision and placed the order! So once the order arrives we will then be able to finish the framing (which we couldn't do before because we needed the exact size for the opening) and then start sheet rocking! I'm really, really excited about how nice this is going to be eventually. 

It still looks the same as before, 

but we are making progress behind the scenes!

(4) Do you recall my hatred of mirrors there are not solid? Well, I chucked the despised medicine cabinet in my bathroom, replaced it with a fancy mirror, and spray painted the light fixture so it wasn't so shiny. The mirror is a MILLION times better than that hideous tri-fold medicine cabinet. 

BEFORE

AFTER

The light fixture is still off-center (since moving it would be a bigger undertaking than Mike was willing to help me with this afternoon), but I can tolerate it for now. Eventually we'll either move it or buy a new fixture. But it's infinitely better already because that heinous medicine cabinet is gone. 

(5) The other weekends tasks were all small things like catching up on correspondence, blogging, decrystalling some honey, laundry, car tabs, etc. So no photos of those :)

Not only was it a highly productive weekend, but it was also pretty relaxing! I did some baking, started a new book, and got some quality time with Mike and Rose. Hope you had a great weekend too!

52 hike challenge #22

On the weekend of Mike's birthday, my parents made the decision to come for a visit the following week. This was notable for two reasons: one, we are in the middle of a global pandemic so extra precautions had to be made, and two, we are a family of planners so I've never known my parents to do embark on a vacation (or anything, really) with only three days of preparation!

After two long days of driving, they arrived on Thursday night. On Friday my dad and Rose went on a hike to "pride rock." Of Saturday my mom, Rose and I went on a hike down the old creek bed that Rose loves. 

As you can see, we attempted to physically distance during their visit, which was definitely hard to remember to do. We also played lots of "balloon catch" and "balloon monkey in the middle," and we had all sorts of wonderful meals. I loved having people to bake for!

We also went to our friends' house on the river and went fishing for a few hours on Sunday. We did not catch any fish, but I did catch a small shrubbery and also the shoreline. The river, meanwhile, caught my dad's glasses. (The wind suddenly blew, which caught his hat, which tangled in his glasses, and both the hat and the glasses flew into the river. He got the hat back downstream, but the glasses sunk somewhere and it was too deep and fast-flowing to find them.)

As always, their visit felt way too short. But at least we got to see each other!  

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)

22. 5/30/20 -  1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up

Recent projects

We've worked on a number of house projects recently, so I wanted to share my excitement...

(1) I know I already told you about our AMAZING new stove, but it's so incredible that I had to mention it again :)

(2) I've also been on the lookout for a cheap screen door for the greenhouse. I have one that I'm rehabbing, so more to come on that!

(3) Mike also started my Mother's Day present, which is redoing the wall to the loft. So far he's gotten it framed in, but we still need to buy the dry wall, shelving, and door(s). I'm so excited about this!!

(4) For 2.5 years I've hated this mirror every time I walk in the bathroom. First, it's split in thirds, so you can't get a good view of your face without it being broken apart by the purposeful crack in the mirror. I had no idea that I hated split mirrors so much, but I do. Second, it's OFF CENTER. Seriously. I don't know why they decided to put the lights and the medicine cabinet off center from the sink/vanity, but it drives me crazy. So I eventually reached my breaking point and took down the mirror, but the new one I got wouldn't fit with the huge backsplash, so now I need to exchange it for a new one. More to come on that too...

(5) We've been on the lookout for chicks all spring, but apparently the coronavirus pandemic made everyone want to raise chickens, so they were in incredibly short supply. We finally found a specialty chicken breeder who just sold us 12 more. Which meant that Mike had to finish in the underhang of the chicken coop so the new chickens and the old chickens could be separated for awhile. Here he is taking measurements for the underhang:

 And here are he and Rose putting the finishing touches on it:

And here are some of the new chickens we got! One is a rooster and the rest are hens. The dad is a Bielefelder and the moms are either Dark Cornish, Splash Partridge Brahmas, Dark Brahmas, or Blue Cochin x Light Brahmas. Should be an interesting flock as they grow older!

(6) We also moved the gate to the airbnb. You'd think the snow fencing would make it obvious that this is a driveway, but we've had a lot of people take a wrong turn and think this is the main road. Hopefully by moving the gate out here to where the snowfencing it will make it more obvious than when the gate was right in front of the rental. 

(7) Since I couldn't hang the medicine cabinet I bought, I spent a little time this weekend rehabbing the laundry room side of the bathroom. I made and hung that little shelf for the clock and the toothbrush chargers (above the dryer), which isn't much but I'm pretty proud of it.

So, there you have it. Lots of work in the last month, and more still to come!  I love our little homestead. :)

52 hike challenge #21

Yesterday, Rose and I decided on the spur of a moment to go on a hike together while Mike was busy doing some Saturday chores around the house. I've been meaning to explore Mount Helena City Park for awhile, so yesterday seemed like the perfect day! The good news is that's a huge park with lots of trails, but the bad news is that the number of trails made it difficult to choose a path. :) 

After reading several reviews on AllTrails and TripAdvisor, then scouring the trail maps from the Prickly Pear Land Trust, we came up with a plan to go up the Prairie Trail and down the 1906 Trail.  I had the PPLT map downloaded on my phone plus took the above photo at the trailhead, but it still felt weird to hike without an actual hard copy map in hand! Apparently I'm an old-school hiker. 

Even with the relatively gradual (for a mountain) incline of the Prairie Trail, it was still a tough workout! Thankfully Doug has never learned to stop pulling when he is on leash, so Rose and I were able to get a little boost up the hills from him. :) Even so, our hearts were pumping and we were pretty winded by the time we got to the summit.

Water, turkey sandwiches, and sun chips never tasted so good!!

The views were spectacular! We could see all of Helena below us, plus the mountains in every direction. It was really stunning.

We wanted to take our selfie at the actual summit (we ate our lunches in relative seclusion about 20 feet from the top), but the actual peak was crowded with a bunch of other folks  (all keeping >6 feet distance from each other, thankfully) enjoying the view. And Doug started whining that he couldn't play with the other dogs so we started back down the trail fairly quickly. 

Our original plan was to take the 1906 Trail down, but a large family CARRYING A BOOMBOX headed that way. UGH. Forcing your music on other people in the great outdoors is one of the most obnoxious things you can do, IMHO. There was no way I wanted to listen to their crappy music when I was trying to enjoy the sounds of nature, so Rose suggested we take the Powerline Trail down instead. I warned her that it would be pretty steep (about .6 miles down, as opposed to the 1.75 miles or so that it had taken for us to go up), but she said she was tired to so she wanted the fastest route.

Steep doesn't even begin to describe it! Even her young knees were burning by the time we got back to our car. I was MUCH less appreciative of Doug pulling me DOWN the steep terrain, although he certainly couldn't understand why I seemed to appreciate his pulling earlier but not then. Oof-dah!

In the end we had some good mommy-daughter bonding time, despite (or perhaps because of?) our constant complaining. Last night as I put my feet up back at home, she even asked if we could go on another hike today! We'll see, I said, we'll see...

52 hike challenge 2020
1. 1/1/20 - 2 mi - out and back
2. 1/5/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
3. 1/11/20 - 2 mi - out and back
4. 1/19/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
5. 1/26/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop
6. 2/1/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
7. 2/2/20 - 2 mi - out and back
8. 2/9/20 - 2 mi? - sledding, and to/from the neighbors
9. 2/15/20 - 4.25 mi neighborhood loop
10. 2/22/20 - 1 mi? -  Lincoln Sculpture in the Wild
(there were at least a few more in here that I, alas, forgot to record)
11. 4/5/20 - 2 mi? - up to the highest peak in our neighborhood
12.  4/10/20 - 2 mi? - down a new drainage next door and back around by the gardens
13. 4/12/20 - 2.5 mi - out and back 

14. 4/18/20 - 1 mi? - down an old creek bed and back up
15. 4/22/20 - 1 mi? - down to the parking lot to pick up my car
16. 4/26/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock" 

17. 5/1/20 - 2 mi? - over to "Pride rock"

18. 5/2/20 - 4.25 mi - neighborhood loop

19. 5/3/20 - 1.5 mi - to the neighbors' horse pen and back

20. 5/10/20 - 2 mi? - Tower Rock State Park

21. 5/16/20 - 3 mi - Mount Helena (prairie trail up, powerline trail down)