Thank you for having me over! I normally write at The Brightside a happiness blog, where you’ll find Helen today. She’s got a lovely post up about spotting Morris Dancers whilst having a few days away in Kent.

Right now where I live in Southern Ontario, rhubarb is fresh and just ending its season, while strawberries are just beginning. It’s the perfect time to make Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie – a truly fuss-free recipe!

In fact, this recipe is so simple it’s easy to adapt it to other fruits. Try it with whatever is in season in your own area. If I was lucky enough to be in the UK in the summer, after making a strawberry-rhubarb pie I’d definitely try gooseberry, or later on combine blackberries with apple.

The Simplest Pastry Ever

I learned to make my favourite pastry from my Mum. It’s so fuss-free that at this point I simply eyeball it, but maybe measuring would be a good idea the first time you bake this. :) This recipe makes a tender, rich pastry that’s more melt-in-your-mouth than flaky.

200 g / 315 mL / 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
120 g / 160 mL / 2/3 cups soft margarine
3 tbsp / 45 mL cold water

(Where I live, most soft margarine comes salted, so I don’t add any salt – adjust to your own preference and ingredients.)

Cut fat into flour with two knives or a pastry-cutter. Sprinkle water on top and with floured hands, gently squeeze into a ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out on a floured surface.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

I measured the ingredients I used so you can replicate this recipe exactly, but it’s truly forgiving. You could use more strawberries, or more rhubarb – you only need enough fruit to fill the pie, enough sugar to please your palate, and enough flour to cope with the juiciness of the fruit. I used all the rhubarb in this picture and about half of the strawberries shown.

500 g / 1 1/4 lb rhubarb stalks
400 g / 1 lb strawberries
170 g / 180 mL / 3/4 cup brown sugar
50 g / 75 mL / 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Ground ginger to taste

Wash and trim rhubarb; chop into 1 cm/1/2-inch slices. Sprinkle with salt; let stand about 20 minutes. Wash and hull strawberries; cut larger ones in halves or quarters.

Roll out pastry and cut out pie lid; roll out remaining pastry and line bottom and sides of pie pan.

Stir strawberries and rhubarb together; stir in sugar, flour, and a pinch of ginger if you like ginger. Scrape mixture into pan; top with pastry lid. Crimp edges and cut vents.

Place pie on a baking sheet to catch drips. Bake in 200°C / 400°F oven for 45-55 minutes – until filling is bubbling and pastry is golden.

If you make this pie with another fruit, you can adjust the sugar and flour. Rhubarb and strawberries are both rather tart and juicy, so they need more sugar and flour than other fruits. On the other hand, I don’t like my pies too sweet, so I only used 3/4 cup/180 mL sugar. If you have a really sweet tooth, you might use as much as a cup/235 mL. Apples probably only need half a cup/120 mL of sugar (and a heaping tablespoon/25 mL of flour) unless you use a super-tart variety. The fun of experimenting is how many pies you get to make! :)

Enjoy and happy pie-making.

Janet Rowe

Many thanks to Janet for her delicious pie!   I am very pastry unconfident, but this seems so easy so will be trying it soon.

Green smoothies?  Trust me here, they are delicious and fantastically good for you.  After a few days of one of these for breakfast you will feel the benefits, getting all 5 of your five a day for in one glass for breakfast can only be a good thing right?

I am the first to admit that my diet is not the most, shall I say, mainstream?  I try to blog about what most people would consider the more normal things that I eat, resisting the tendency to be too green and raw and vegan.       I have absolutely no objection to animal products.  However I prefer mine to be both organic and free range, which is expensive and thus makes them a treat rather than an everyday staple.

I was delighted when Cuisinart recently contacted me and asked if I wanted to trial one of their products.   As soon as I looked at their website I knew that one of their blenders would be just the ticket for making green smoothies.

A green smoothie is simply a smoothie made with the addition of greens.      The sweetness of the fruit takes away any bitterness from the raw greens and the end drink is  delicious, refreshing and engergising.

The blender powers through the seeds, kale leaves and frozen fruit.  I used a glass of orange & apple juice, frozen plum & nectarine pieces, half a carrot, mixed seeds, kale and a banana and some water to thin it out a little.

The resulting green goodness in a glass!

A full review of the blender is to be posted soon.

Thanks to Cuisinart for my blender.

Fresh fruit and a hot sauce are perfect for those dull and damp summer evenings, when you want a hot pudding but also want to pretend to be healthy. This quick and easy pudding can be cooked in just a few minutes is very good for using up odd bits of fruit that are starting to turn – nectarines, bananas and apples would all work.

I used “stone clinger” peaches – those peaches that are overripe on the outside and still hard in the middle.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1oz butter
1oz soft light brown sugar
1tbs honey
Peaches, apples, nectarines, bananas or other fruit. 2 pieces per person is perfect.

Put the butter, sugar and honey into a saucepan (to save time and washing up just use a wooden spoon to approximately measure the honey) and heat on a medium heat stirring from time to time. Meanwhile cut the fruit into segments ready to add to the sauce.

When the sauce has thickened and is golden and bubbling add the fruit, stir for a minute until heated through.

Serve straight away, either by itself or with cream or ice cream.