No Hazardous Pies

            When my husband and I decided to make our Nebraska ranch our permanent home I called Prairie Girl hoping she could give me some ideas for jobs in the area. I had taken the year off from teaching to care for my father and my heart just wasn’t into returning to the classroom. I needed a new challenge.                                                    

            Like a good friend would, Prairie Girl listened and asked me what I really wanted to do. Looking around the coffee shop, I blurted out my dream. Open a roadside farm stand selling eggs. And so it began the challenge that would become BeeHaven Farm Roadside Market.

            The county inspector listened as I rambled vaguely about what we planned to do.  “A roadside market?  In the Panhandle?”  25 miles from nowhere?” He sighed and I could tell he thought I was another crazy Coloradan with money to burn. “You can sell eggs, honey, fresh produce and baked goods but no hazardous pies.” Yikes! My mind freewheeled picturing cartoon pies with strychnine or sticks of dynamite baked in them. Was this a common problem here in Nebraska? Cautiously I inquired. Hazardous pies, I was informed are pies made with eggs such as custard pies, lemon meringue pies, or cocoanut crème pies. Relieved I assured the inspector I had no intention of selling such dangerous fare. Sternly he warned me that I had to hang a placard warning customers that we were not using an inspected kitchen and I could only bake three days a week to keep my amateur status. It seemed pretty simple compared to some states. Apparently in Nebraska people are allowed to make up their own minds about the safeness of their foods.

            BeeHaven Farm Roadside Market will be opening Saturday, June 16^th,, 2012. We will be featuring luxurious, artisan products from Double L Country Store, Grass fed Bison from the Monkey Ranch, seasonal, farm fresh fruits and vegetables, pasture raised eggs and many more locally produced items-but no hazardous pies.

Rhubarb Berry Crisp: a non-hazardous pie

2 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or a combination )

½ cup sugar or more to taste (I like it a little tart)

5 T cold butter plus a little extra to dot on the fruit

½ cup rolled oats (not the instant kind)

½ cup all-purpose flour

Dash of salt

       Heat the oven to 400 deg. F. Layer the fruit in a deep dish 8-9 inch pie pan. Dot with butter, sprinkle with sugar.

       Combine the other ingredients using a food processor, pastry blender or fork. Mix until ingredients are well incorporated. It will look like lumpy cornmeal.

       Crumble the topping over the fruit and bake until the topping is browned and the rhubarb is tender and bubbly. 30-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream or plain.