Hi all you gorgeous people! Grammie here, on the beautiful Miramichi! Welcome to my kitchen where you will always find friendship and warmth while having tea. Look how wonderful a Cup of Tea is:

A Cup of Tea

After a long winter of knitting, I got off my rocker today and now sit in front of the computer enjoying the fresh evening breeze. I enjoyed a delightful week of watching a robin build her nest in a sugar maple outside my window. There aren’t any leaves on the trees yet so my view is fantastic. One thing I've noticed — mother robins don’t spend time in the kitchen cooking, just a quick dive to the ground and presto! Lunch is ready.

Also from my office window I can see my rhubarb patch. It's ready to make rhubarb muffins and a rhubarb pudding. A strawberry glazed pie is also delicious. These are nice after an appetiser of mussels simmered over cooked veggies in wine, Coquille St. Jacques, or if you prefer Fiddlehead soup. Grammie loves to see her company enjoy her cooking. But you can try these recipes at home.

Rhubarb Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup of buttermilk (if you haven't any buttermilk, add vinegar to milk)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar (packed)
1 cup oatmeal
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups chopped rhubarb

Whisk milk, eggs, vanilla and oil together. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, oats, orange zest, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the centre. Pour in egg mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in rhubarb. Immediately spoon batter into 12-muffin tin. Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes or until tops are firm. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to rack to cool.

Strawberry Glazed Pie

A graham wafer pie crust

2 cups strawberries
3 tbsp. water
½ cup sugar
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp. corn starch

Slice one cup of berries. Combine sliced berries, water, sugar and salt in a pan. Boil gently for 3 minutes. Mix cornstarch and ¼ cup water, add to berries. Bring to a boil until thickened.

Filling (For a nice big deep pie double ingredients)

1 pkg. 4 oz cream cheese
1 cup whipped cream
2 tbsp. icing sugar

Beat cream cheese until softened. Fold in whipped cream. Add icing sugar. Spread mixture over bottom of pie shell. Cover with half the glaze. Add whole berries (fill bottom of the pan, gently push berries into filling) Then pour remaining glaze over berries. Can be topped with blobs of whipped cream. Chill.

Rhubarb Pudding

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water
Boil brown sugar and water. Set aside to cool.

2 cups rhubarb, diced
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp. flour
Mix and line bottom of baking dish with mixture.

1 cup flour
1/3 cup shortening
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Make dumplings with flour mixture and drop over rhubarb mixture. Cover with brown sugar sauce. Bake at 400°F 20-30 minutes. 30 seems best. Top with whipped cream and serve. Delicious!

I also use strawberries instead of rhubarb for this recipe. I'm a "Use Your Imagination" Grammie.

And that's how I make my cream soups.

Fiddlehead Soup

Sauté onions. The amount depends upon how much you like onions.
Wash and clean Fiddleheads, cook until not quite tender.
Cut in half or smaller. Some people like them really small.
Combine onions and Fiddlehead.

Make a cream sauce using:

About 2 good tablespoons of butter melted in a pot on the stove.
Add a couple tablespoons of flour.
Add enough milk to make a light creamy sauce, whatever thickness you like your soup.
Stir in some chicken base, a couple teaspoons or so.
Play around with this till your palate tells you it’s enough.
Now, stir in your Fiddlehead and onions.
Simmer but don't boil, and watch it doesn't stick.
Add more milk if you think it is too thick.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Like I say, use your imagination.

Mussels Steamed in Veggies and White Wine

I use one large onion, ½ green pepper and a couple of celery stalks, chopped.
Simmer about 30 minutes in ½ cup water and about ½ cup white wine.
When veggies are almost cooked, add a ½ can tomatoes or more if you want.
Wash your mussels (about 2 or 3 lbs.) and set on simmered veggies.
Mussels just take a few minutes steaming to be cooked when opened.
You can add more veggies to suit your taste.
Pour into a nice large dish. Makes nice chunky soup to be poured over the mussels.

I make up a lot of my recipes and it’s hard for me to give exact measurements. When I go to a restaurant and have something different, I get an idea of ingredients and fool around with it until my taste buds tell me it’s delicious.

Oh-oh, I hear the patter of little feet. Never know what they are up to or where they are going, so I better make a fast beeline downstairs to see what’s going on. I hear our dog barking to let me know company is here, so quickly I’ll get to my mailbag.

"When I make a single crust pie, sometimes the crust shrinks away from the edge of the pan. Do you know, is there something simple I can do to stop this from happening?"
-- Wannabe Pastry Chef

A great question for Grammie today, and how I wish I had the perfect answer for you. I do know the flakier your crust, the more shrinkage. Try wrapping the dough around the under part of the edge of the rim, and don't forget to prick the dough on the bottom of your pan and up the sides.

Now a quick tip for young mothers in a rush who can never find anything, especially your lipstick — a dab of red food colouring will do the job, and no one will be the wiser.

Until next time, remember I made it especially for you.

"The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right."
-- William Safire