And children, if your body's proximity is close enough to your mother to give her a giant hug and kiss, do it. Do it right now.
My mom lives in Portland, OR and sometimes I miss her a real lot. I miss her most when I want to give her a hug and I can't. So take advantage of those hugs when you can, people!
I've got a couple of tricks to help with my mom lonesomeness.
Exhibit A:
I inherited this pyrex baking dish from my mom. And by inherit, I mean that I totally swiped it from her kitchen.
I can't even tell you how many pans of brownies and bars and hotdishes and lasagnas I've made in this pan. I think about my mom every time I pull it out of the cupboard. Thanks, Mom! ;)
Exhibit B:
I also "inherited" this recipe too.
I love it because it's in my mother's handwriting and it's on my Grandma Pearl's recipe card.
It's worn and used and it makes my insides all warm every time I take it out.
I can remember my mom making this when I was little.
I remember being absolutely astounded at how horrible raw rhubarb could taste and what a good cook my mom must be to make it taste so good in rhubarb crisp.
Did you know they don't have rhubarb California. It has something to do with the growing zone.
They do, however, have avocados that don't cost an arm and a leg, persimmons, which until recently, I didn't even knew existed, and amazing citrus almost all year round. Yeah, it's a trade off.
I don't have any recipes from my mom that include any of those things, so no amount of avocados, persimmons or oranges were any use to me when I needed a little mom pick-me-up.
I'm lucky, though. We both have unlimited minutes on our cell phone plans.
I might not have gotten to see my mom on this Mother's Day but I still feel like I got to spend a little bit of time with her.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you!
Mom's Rhubarb Crisp
Serves: 6-8 servings
Crust Ingredients:
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
5 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup Cold Butter, Cubed
Filling Ingredients:
2 Cups of Coarsely Chopped Rhubarb
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Dash of Salt
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and powdered sugar. With a pastry blender or a fork, work cold butter cubes into flour mixer until mixture resembles course sand.
Press crust mixture into bottom of 9 x 9 pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 mins.
While crust is baking, with electric mixer, beat eggs on medium speed until fluffy. To the eggs, gradually add the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix rhubarb pieces in by hand.
After removing crust from the oven spread the filling evenly over the crust and return to oven for 35 mins.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20-25 mins.
Serve to yo' momma while still warm with vanilla frozen yogurt.
P.S. My mom is totally going to cry when she reads this. Way to go Pearly May!
