CAFE SPECIAL OF THE WEEK - Rhubarb Pie

Today, I have a double treat for you here at the cafe. I'm thrilled to have a visitor from Canada . . . an excellent writer and frequent visitor to the cafe . . . as my guest. Bonnie Way, aka The Koala Bear Writer, has special memories and a recipe to share with us.

Bonnie is a freelance writer and editor whose work has been published in a variety of publications, including GoNOMAD.com, The Olds Albertan, and The Mom Writer's Literary Magazine. She is currently the editor of FellowScript, the quarterly newsletter of the Inscribe Christian Writers' Fellowship. When she's not writing, she's busy as a mom and wife.

Welcome, Bonnie!

Grandma's Rhubarb Pie

Nothing tastes like summer to me as much as my grandma’s rhubarb pie. It was something we only had at Grandma’s place, so it was a special treat. Sometimes Grandma would make it with just rhubarb, and sometimes it would be rhubarb and strawberry—just as delicious. Here’s the recipe. Line a pie pan with pie dough or use a prepared pie shell. Mix 4 cups of unpeeled, diced young rhubarb stalks (or 2 cups rhubarb and 2 cups strawberries), ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 to 2 cups sugar (depending on your sweet tooth!) and 1 tablespoon butter. Pour into the pie shell. Top with either a regular crust or a lattice crust. Bake for 20 minutes at 400* C, then reduce heat to 350* C and bake for another 20 minutes. Enjoy!

When I’m not eating rhubarb pie at my grandma’s place, I enjoy playing with my sixteen-month-old daughter or writing while she naps. I enjoy reading other writer’s blogs for inspiration and use my own blog as a way to keep myself writing regularly. Lately, I’ve worked mostly on short fiction, as the task of tackling a novel appears daunting when my writing time comes in short chunks. However, I’m a novelist at heart and am itching to get back to a work where I have more than a thousand words or less in which to develop a character and her relationships to those around her.

I’m currently a book review blogger for three publishers, which keeps me busy reading and gives me a chance to see what’s hot in the Christian fiction market (hopefully that will help when I do get around to starting a novel!). I also write articles on a variety of topics including book reviewing for Suite 101.com. Four times a year, I have fun editing and putting together a writer’s newsletter called FellowScript for Inscribe Christian Writer’s Fellowship—reading the articles multiple times while I work on them really helps me learn more about writing!

This summer, I’m looking forward to a bit of time to relax with my hubby (who’s a teacher) and our daughter. I’m also plotting a way for us to stop by my dad’s place to see if his rhubarb plant needs trimming at all...

Carla here: My dad is going to love this--a recipe for rhubarb pie (now I will have no excuse for not making his favorite dessert). Bonnie, it's a real treat to have you here and hope you'll come back often. And you MUST start at least one novel. How about the rest of you? Recipes? New ventures you'd like to share? This is the place to do that. Have a wonderful week.