Monday, July 11, 2011

Abundance



There are days when I feel like nothing I have hoped for or planned will be coming to fruition anytime in the near future. Happily, those days are far outnumbered by days filled with reminders about how very much I have been blessed with - things that have nothing to do with me, and everything to do with grace. I spend lots of time planting seeds - whether in the form of ideas, or because I work with young adults, or offering up a sermon, or literally as I try to get my yard and garden to be productive, or in lots of other ways big and small. 

But then there are the volunteers . . .

Volunteers are both the folks I am so very lucky to have the chance to work with and for AND they are the happy surprises in the garden.  I am surrounded by people who willingly and graciously give of their time, their ideas, their energy, their hard earned money, and so much more to make possible the ministry I get to help make happen.  I love that the same word is used to describe the un-planned plants that have taken root in the yard - like the unexpected color that I found when this lily just decided to show up in the front! First of all, seriously? How amazing is it that I live in a place where a LILY will just pop up in your yard unannounced.  Now, the woman who lived in this house before me liked to plant things,  and it is more than likely that she put that bulb in the ground at some point. But this is my fifth spring/summer and this is the first time they have shown up.  

Another volunteer in the yard is rhubarb.  
Now I know my predecessor planted this, but by all rights it should be dead. The dog chose it as his favorite place to run (read: stomp), so it has been flattened multiple times. AND there was a windstorm that took out the fence, so not only did a fence fall on it, but the guys who built the new one trampled the few meager plants that had survived with their heavy work boots.  But the next year, it came back. And this year - it came back with a vengeance!!! I have now harvested three batches of rhubarb, and it looks like there will be more where that came from.  Consequently I've made rhubarb pies*, rhubarb chutney (two kinds), rhubarb sorbet and some is frozen for later.  

A volunteer that won't give up  - happily, the rhubarb isn't the only one in my life like that.  I'm grateful for all volunteers in my life - the human and plant varieties - but especially for those that stick with it - even when things get hard.  


*My favorite is still rhubarb red berry pie -recipe follows - mmm mmm good! 


Rhubarb Red Berry Pie
1 recipe of double-crust pie dough of your choice unbaked

3  - 3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved if small/quartered if large
2 cups raspberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small bits
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll half of pie dough into a circle and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. 
Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca in a large bowl.Pour filling onto bottom pie crust and dot with  butter. Roll second half of pie dough and place it over top. Trim any excessive pie dough and crimp the edges. Cut slits into top crust for vents. 

Transfer pie to a baking sheet (so it can catch any drips).  Bake for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and you can see the juices bubbling. 

This is the hard part - let it cool for at least 3 hours so that the juices can settle and the tapioca can work its magic and firm everything up. It is yummy served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

In theory the pie can keep for up to 3 days on the counter top . . .but it usually doesn't last that long!