Muffins made with WHAT?

My neighbors don't know what it is,
My father in law hates it,
People in the south can't grow it,
People in the north can't give it away fast enough!
What is "it" you ask.....RhUbArB!

Thanks to the Romans, the word "rhubarb" takes its name from the Latin rha barbarum. Rhubarb grew along the banks of the river Rha, the ancient name of the Volga. Back then, the region was considered foreign, or barbarian territory. Thus, rhubarb literally means "from the barbarian, Rha."

When the Meringue Gang left our home state for a job opportunity for Mr Meringue we left behind the Rhubarb plants that I had harvested every summer to make my mother's delicious rhubarb crisp recipe.  Nothing says "summer" to my mini meringues until the first rhubarb crisp hits the counter.  Its still too chilly to break out the crisp but that hasn't stopped us from breaking out the rhubarb from the freezer from last years bounty.  Its Good Friday and I can't think of a better recipe than "good" rhubarb muffins for the mini meringues for an after school snack!

RhUbArB Muffins

4 tbsps butter, room temp

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, ends trimmed and cut into chunks

1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375.  With an electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until smooth.  Add egg and buttermilk and beat to combine.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to butter mixture and beat until smooth.  Fold in rhubarb.  Spoon into 18 lined muffin cups.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes.  Let cool and then devour!

This summer I am looking forward not only to my mother's rhubarb crisp but also trying other rhubarb recipes like Rhubarb Cheesecake and Rhubarb Fruit Leather!  That last one sure made you go "What?"  Its a recipe way of saying fruit roll-up!  ")

Must be a Man thing.

I make shredded beef so many different ways that when I came across this recipe for Spicy Dr Pepper Shredded Pork I must say I was intrigued and new it could work with beef too.   I went to the freezer to select a piece of meat to thaw and headed to SuperTarget for the ingredients I didn't have on hand...a can of chipolte peppers and two cans of  Dr Pepper.  The stress of making this recipe is overwhelming...have your phone handy to make a spa appointment....LOL!  Once the meat is thawed I threw all the ingredients into the roaster and let it do its slow cooking magic.  Once the beef was fork tender I removed the meat to a cutting board to shred with forks, and ran the juices through a strainer/fat separator gadget thing.  I'm sure it has a name...I just don't know what it is.  Maybe I should call it Strafa, no offense to any Strafa's in the world.  Getting back to business, I returned the now fat free juices and the shredded beef to a crock pot put on low and served with soft tortillas, sour cream, shredded co jack cheese, black olives and shredded lettuce.  I personally did not care for this recipe of meat, no reason in particular.  It is on the spicy side but I like the spicy side.  But every man that has eaten this spicy beef taco has LOVED it.  I served it when we had some friends over, mostly guys, and they were all quiet while eating away when one man broke the silence with a primal exclamation "That's good meat!".  Not sure why it struck our funny bone so much but wow, did we laugh and get some mileage out of that one! 

Here is the original recipe and photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman!

 

• 1 whole Large Onion
• 1 whole Pork Shoulder ("pork Butt") - 5 To 7 Pounds
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
• 2 cans Dr. Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.  Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.  Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.   Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it’s not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.  Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it’s cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.  Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you’d like.

Cheesecake Anyone?

We were invited over to some friends of ours to watch the Masters.  For any of you who do not know what the Masters is, it is THE golf tournament.  It is a tournament steeped in tradition like no other as Jim Nantz would say.  Mr Meringue and I started a tradition of our own by watching every Masters tournament since we have been together....12 so far.  We were never one of those couples that had an actual anniversary date to mark the years we were together but we always "celebrated" when the Masters came around.  Now that we are married, the date is set in stone but we still recall the year Jose Olazabal was the winner of the coveted green jacket.  Any who....way of track here, we were invited to our friends home and they asked us to bring something over to share with all and this is what I brought.  I know golf doesn't really scream cheesecake but I really wanted some and I knew I would feel less guilty eating it if I shared with others.   

Double-Decker Oreo Cheesecake

1 pkg. Oreo Cookies, divided

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup Sour Cream

4 eggs

4 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Heat oven to 325ºF.  Process 30 cookies in food processor until finely ground. Add butter; mix well. Press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs,1 at a time, beating after each just until blended; pour half over crust. Stir melted chocolate into remaining batter and pour over batter in pan. Chop remaining cookies; sprinkle over batter.  Bake 45 min. or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours.

I unfortunately was unable to photograph my lovely cheesecake due to Mr Meringue & mini meringues swipe of a "sample" while I was out with my girlfriends.  And I use to think I could not leave food on the counter because of the dog.....


photo and recipe were brought to you by Kraft Foods

Pin A Rose

My maternal grandmother was Ruby and passed away young, while my mother was still in high school.  Although we have not had the pleasure of meeting her, her photo adorns our home, her recipes are a favorite of ours and one of our Mini Meringues middle name is hers.  My mom had once told me during a very rare "Aren't-you-a-all-that-and a-bag-of-chips" type moment I had once had...LOL I can't even type this without giggling.....truth is I had plenty of those moments....  Anyways she had said to me instead "Well, pin a rose on your nose" .  I do recall whipping my head around, blown away by this new phrase.  Where did you get that from I had asked and sure enough....Miss Ruby.  I still use this phrase from time to time in our house and it makes me think of her every time.  I wonder if she was one of those real old sass type of gals, in my mind she is.  My sister just told me this same expression when I told her I was making the Mini Meringues an after school snack.  I had come across this recipe a few months ago online and knew it would be a hit in our home.  It is super simple to make and completely delicious to eat!  Yes big sis and Miss Ruby, I will pin a rose on my nose!  ")

Snickerdoodle Muffins



1 cup Butter, Softened

1 cup Sugar

2 whole Eggs

2 teaspoons Vanilla

2-¼ cups Flour

¾ teaspoons Baking Powder

¾ teaspoons Baking Soda

¾ teaspoons Cream Of Tartar

½ teaspoons Salt

1 cup Sour Cream

¼ cups Buttermilk

For the tops & bottoms  sprinkle with sugar & cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a muffin tin with liners. In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the sour cream and buttermilk and mix to combine. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Use scooper and plop a scoop of batter into the bowl with the sugar and cinnamon. Gently roll the batter in the sugar and cinnamon. Place the ball into the muffin liner. When you have completed all of the muffins, sprinkle the leftover cinnamon sugar onto the tops of all of the muffins. Bake the muffins at 350ºF for about 18 minutes or until they are golden on top and baked through.

I got the napkin at a grocery store back home and the cake plate.....was once Ruby's!