The only thing growing in our garden right now is rhubarb, so I made this delicious cake. It reminds me of upside-down strawberry shortcake with the creamy rhubarb compote and crunchy top.

This blog has languished during my move to Wisconsin. My new job, quite honestly, has been kicking my ass, with long hours and a lengthy commute from G.’s house to our office in Milwaukee. I hope that will get better soon when I move into a condo in the city.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing only enough cooking to get by and using as much as possible from our freezer, which is still well-stocked thanks to the past two years of gardening.

This year’s garden has me worried. We’ve had enough rain to break the drought, but it’s so cold that just about the only thing growing is rhubarb and a tiny bit of lettuce in our hoop house. The rhubarb looks awesome though. The plants are big and bushy, with stalks that are ready to cut.

I harvested some yesterday and made a rhubarb pudding cake with a recipe from Kim Ode’s Rhubarb Renaissance, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It reminds me of a kind of upside-down strawberry shortcake, with rhubarb compote on the bottom covered by a moist cake with crunchy top.

G., who is still slightly suspicious of rhubarb, wanted to taste mine before he committed to a serving, but then he ate two. Here’s the recipe:

Rhubarb Pudding Cake

5 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup sugar (the recipe calls for granulated, but I used brown)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind
1 1/4 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Spread rhubarb evenly in the bottom of the pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix in the melted butter, milk, egg and vanilla. This makes a thick batter. Drop spoonfuls on top of the rhubarb and smooth it out.

In another bowl, combine the 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, cardamom and lemon rind. Mix it, and then sprinkle it evenly on top of the batter.

Gently pour the boiling water over the whole thing.

Bake the cake for 50 minutes and then let it cool for 20 minutes before serving. It should still be warm.

I made muffins this morning to use the last of my butter and sugar. As you know, I’ve been trying for weeks to use up the food in my freezer and cabinets so that I would have less to move. I’ve gotten the volume down a lot, but I still have an interesting array of supplies. This morning, I found frozen cranberries, dried orange peel and Grand Marnier to use in my moving muffins.

Cranberry and Grand Marnier Muffins

6 ounces all-purpose flour
2 ounces whole wheat flour
4 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 stick butter (4 ounces)
2 eggs
8 ounces milk
1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
1 cup frozen cranberries

Combine the dried orange peel and milk in a microwave-safe cup. Heat the milk for about one minute so that it is warm. Let the milk sit for 10 minutes or so, so that the orange peel steeps.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

Melt the butter. Beat in the eggs. Pour the milk through a strainer to remove the orange peel. Beat the milk into the butter and eggs. Add the Grand Marnier.

Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until it is smooth and not lumpy. I do this by hand to avoid over-mixing. Add the cranberries and stir them in.

Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes. My oven in Chicago runs hot, so you might have to go a bit longer.

This makes a dozen muffins.

This is a whole grain salad featuring kamut, an ancient grain about twice the size of modern wheat.

I have been trying hard to use up the food in my freezer and cabinets before my upcoming move to Wisconsin. One of the items that had been sitting around a while was a 2-cup bag of kamut, an ancient whole grain.

I ordered it from a farm in Iowa on a whim, and then I was kind of like, “OK, what do I do with this?” But after reading a few articles about grain salads, I felt confident about coming up with one.

I bought a rotisserie chicken and some celery for crunch. I had dried cherries and sunflower seeds that I needed to use up, so those went in. I used peach vinegar because I had it, but anything fruity would probably do.

And you could always change up the cheese if you are like G. and think blue cheese is foul. Actually, part of why I used it in this recipe is because I rarely use it anything he would eat.

This salad has been my lunch this week. It keeps well.

Kamut, Chicken and Cherry Salad

1 cup kamut, cooked
2 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup white peach vinegar (or any other flavor you like)
1/4 cup olive oil

To cook the kamut, place 3 cups of water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the grain and cook for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The grain will still have texture and be chewy, but not hard. Drain off the excess water.

Let the kamut cool, and then combine it in a bowl with the chicken, celery, cherries, sunflower seeds and blue cheese.

To make a vinaigrette, stir the vinegar while you pour in the oil. Technically, you want a 2:1 oil to vinegar ratio, but I like a more even split. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss.

This will easily feed four and you’ll likely have leftovers. The kamut is very filling.

I love this stew with chicken and butternut squash, and it’s really easy to make in a slow cooker.

The time has come for G. and I to make a big effort to consume the butternut squash that we have in cold storage. He knocked himself out last summer watering the plants amid the drought in our area (and in most of the country). It would be a shame to waste it, and we recently pulled out one squash that had started to rot. So, we need to eat the rest before they go the same way.

To that end, I recently made on of my favorite winter dishes. It’s essentially a recipe from Martha Rose Shulman, with a few ingredients _ like olives _ left out because G. doesn’t like them.

Also, Martha’s recipe has long, detailed instructions. I throw everything in my slow cooker, go to work, and when I come home, dinner is done.

Spanish Stew with Chicken and Butternut Squash

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
Roughly 28 ounces of frozen tomatoes, thawed and run through the food processor OR 2-3 cups of plain tomato sauce
6 to 8 skinned chicken legs and/or thighs (you can use boneless
thighs)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 cup raisins
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces

This custard is the first thing I’ve made with Meyer lemons.

I took a bit of a break from cooking after our pie party. G. and I went out some, and then I had company and we went out some more. I’ve also been trying to use up what’s in my freezer before I move, and that’s led to even less cooking.

But I was at the grocery store a few days ago, and I couldn’t resist buying a couple of Meyer lemons. I had read about them in cookbooks and magazines but never tried one until this winter, in part because I didn’t have a decent grocery store in my neighborhood in Chicago until last fall. My mom thinks they taste like a cross between an orange and a lemon, but I definitely taste more lemon than orange. They’re just a funny lemon.

I thought it would be great to make a version of my grandmom’s lemon cream pie with them, but then after all the pie we’ve had lately, I thought maybe I should give it a rest. Specifically, I thought I should give the crust a rest because I’m supposed to limit my consumption of refined, white flour.

I eventually decided to just make the pie filling and bake it in a water bath as a custard. I do this a lot with pumpkin pie filling, and this worked out just as well. It makes a light, tart dessert, which would be refreshing after a heavy meal.

Meyer lemon custard

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
2 Meyer lemons
1 tablespoon butter
2 large eggs
7/8 cup milk

Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg whites and set aside.

Mix the sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour.

Grate the rind of 1 lemon. Set it aside. Squeeze the juice from both lemons. Set it aside.

Mix the rind, lemon juice, butter, egg yolks and milk.

Fold in the egg whites.

Pour the batter into four lightly greased ramekins. Place those in a baking dish and fill 2/3 of the way up the sides with water.

Try baking it at 300 degrees for 45-50 minutes. The center should be just a bit jiggly. It will firm up as the pudding cools.

What she meant was that she was making Ann Landers’ meatloaf. Phillips was better known as Dear Abby, and Ann Landers (real name: Eppie Lederer) was her twin — something that did not prevent a fierce competition between the two advice columnists.

Landers made a mean meatloaf, the recipe for which she printed several times in her column over several decades. My mom got it from a friend who saved a copy the last time it was published.

As an aside, Landers died in 2002, which was the year Dear Abby’s daughter took over her column. Phillips was 94 when she died Jan. 16.

And so, on the night that Dear Abby died, my mom made her sister’s meatloaf in her honor.

She made it again last weekend when she was visiting me. We were having nine for dinner: Me, my mom, G., my stepsister and her family, and a couple of friends. That also was the night of our pie party, so we needed a relatively simple dinner that we could get on the table and clean up before all the guests arrived. Meatloaf, baked potatoes and a salad that my friend brought were just the ticket.

G. was in heaven. I don’t cook a lot of beef, so he looks forward to my mom’s visits, and her meatloaf — Ann Landers’ meatloaf — is a favorite. He had two helpings, which distressed me a little because I knew we were all about to consume an obscene amount of pie.

G. came through it OK but swears he is going to start cutting back.

In getting ready for the dinner, I realized I hadn’t ever posted the recipe on this blog, which has become my go-to way for saving recipes because I can search for them by keyword. Otherwise, I have to sort through bins of paper copies, which greatly reduces the chances that I’ll find what I’m looking for.

I’m posting the recipe now for the next time I want it, which may be when I’ll be able to get a photograph. The meatloaf we made last weekend was eaten before I even thought about taking its picture.

Ann Landers’ Meatloaf

2 pounds ground round beef
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
3/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Accent seasoning
1/2 cup warm water
1 package Lipton dry onion soup mix
8 ounces tomato sauce

Mix all the ingredients together except the tomato sauce, and shape the meat into a loaf. Put the loaf in a baking pan, and top it with the tomato sauce.

If you want, you can lay a couple of pieces of bacon over the loaf first, and then pour on the tomato sauce. My mom does that.

Bake the meatloaf at 350 degrees for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.

We hosted a pie party. This is just a sample of the pies people brought.

We had a pie party on Saturday: 30 adults, 3 children and 19 pies.

I got the idea from an article in Bon Appetit magazine last summer. At first, I thought the party would be small, but then G. and I kept thinking of more friends we wanted to invite. It grew, and it grew awesome.

I also decided to put my own twist on Bon Appetit’s idea and turn the party into a contest. After everyone sampled the pies, they voted on their two favorites. The winners were a perfect pecan pie made by my friend Paul and a grasshopper pie from my friend Mike.

The kids really liked the bright green grasshopper pie, and my mom remarked on that.

“It has alcohol in it,” Mike said.

“Oh!” my mom exclaimed. Later, she told me, “No wonder they liked it. They were all over the dance floor.”

I made a blueberry pie, which my friend Andale said was very good.

“I would have even voted for it,” he said. “But then there was your momma’s pie.”

She made a banana cream pie, and at the end of the night, when people were taking slices home, Andale scooped up the last two pieces.

“Your momma,” he said, shaking his head.

She does rock. And so, for you, my dear readers, here is my mom’s recipe:

My mom’s banana cream pie sits in the refrigerator before the party.

Banana Cream Pie
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (or 3 tablespoons cornstarch)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas
3 egg yolks
Keebler Graham Cracker Crumb Crust
Heavy cream whipped with sugar and vanilla

Slightly beat the 3 egg yolks and set aside.

Combine the sugar, flour and salt in a sauce pan. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook it over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture boils and thickens. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat.

Next, stir a small amount of the milk mixture into the egg yolks. Add that mixture back into the original hot mixture and cook it for 2 minutes stirring constantly.

Remove the hot mixture from the heat, and add butter and vanilla. Let it cool, forming a custard.

Next, make the pie shell according to the directions on the Keebler package. Bake it at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Slice the bananas, and place the slices in the bottom of the shell.

Pour the cooled custard into the baked pie shell and over the sliced bananas.

Beat the heavy cream, adding sugar and vanilla to taste. Use the whipped cream to top the pie.

This is my first attempt at Rhubarb Orange Pie. The crust burned up.

Our pie party is only a couple of days away, and many of my friends say they have been testing their recipes. One couple made six pies so far! Sandy, the wife, says they weren’t all great, but they all got eaten.

Meanwhile, I toyed with the idea of making a rhubarb pie, but the test run I did last week didn’t go so well, and I don’t have time for another.

The main problem with the recipe I used is that it calls for baking the pie at 425 degrees for 50 minutes. The filling was fine, tasty actually, but the crust just burned up. Mom and I discussed it, and the next time I try I’m going to go for 375 degrees and take the pie out once the crust starts to brown. And then hope the center solidifies enough.

Here is the original recipe, made from an old cookbook of my mom’s:

Orange Rhubarb Pie
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg or mace (I used mace)
1/4 cup orange juice
4 cups chopped rhubarb

Beat the eggs. Beat in everything else except the rhubarb. Stir in the rhubarb. (Note: I used rhubarb that I chopped and froze over the summer. It thawed out fine.)

Pour the filling into the crust. The original recipe recommends a top crust. I didn’t use one this time. Mom suggests a lattice crust next time around.

The recipe says to bake the pie at 425 degrees for 50 minutes, but that burned my pie up.

Mom’s cookbook also has an alternate recipe that I plan to try at some point:

Fresh Rhubarb Pie
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh orange peel
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups chopped rhubarb
2 tablespoons butter

Combine all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl. Stir and then pour the filling into a crust. Dot the butter on top. Add a lattice crust on top. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. (Although I’m assuming the temperature is too hot in this recipe too.)

Blueberry pie with a crust that uses vodka in place of some water. Foolproof.

I haven’t been blogging lately because I haven’t been cooking as much. I decided G. and I need to make a real effort to clean out our freezers, so I’ve been thawing a lot of the food we put up over the summer (and in a few cases, the summer before). Food stays a long time in the freezer, but it begins to lose texture and taste, and so we need to use it or lose it.

For dinner last night, I took a big tray of eggplant Parmesan out of the freezer. I plunked it on the counter.

“What’s that?” G. asked.

“Eggplant Parmesan,” I said. “I’m going to let it thaw a bit, and then put it in the oven. Like a big frozen lasagne.”

“Excellent,” he said.

And it was pretty good.

The cooking I have been doing has been baking. G. and I are hosting a pie party in a couple of weeks. Each household is bringing a pie, and we are going to taste them, vote on our favorites and then swap slices.

In anticipation, I have been working on making pie crust. I’m using Cook’s Illustrated’s “foolproof” recipe, but I am debating pre-baking. The first time I didn’t. This time, I baked it for 10 minutes and then added the pie filling. G. says he likes that better because the crust is fluffier.

But it still doesn’t look pretty because the crust shrinks if I cut it to fit the pie plate before baking, and if I pre-bake and then cut it, it starts to crumble. And G. wants a double crust, which I’m pretty sure you can’t pre-bake. So, I’m still working on it. But here is the pie crust recipe, if you want to try it. The crust is really good, regardless of whether you pre-bake or not.

Pie Crust

1 1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons ice water
2 tablespoons vodka

Put the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor. Cut the butter into small chunks and add it to the bowl. Add the shortening. Pulse in the food processor until you have a fine meal. Add the water and vodka and knead until a firm dough forms.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Take the dough out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. Roll it out.

If you want to pre-bake, try doing it at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

We marked other notable events too. G. finished the dance floor at our house, and we hosted our first cookout, and our first livestream of the U.S. Open in swing.

G., my mom and I all got iPads, and they became obsessed with Words With Friends, although they will only play with each other. I play with my stepsister.

At work, G. got a promotion, and I went to MIT’s Food Boot Camp for food and science writers.

We struggled through the summer drought, which devastated our garden, but food-wise, I ended the year on a strong note. We went to a potluck on New Year’s Eve, and I received a barrage of compliments for my spinach salad. It took me by surprise because it was ridiculously easy to make.

Here are directions: Combine 10 ounces of baby spinach, roughly 1 1/2 cups of Craisins, about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, and about 1/2 cup of feta cheese in a bowl. Whisk together 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil to make a dressing. Add the dressing to the salad and toss. Easy.

I think the key is the quality of the vinegar and oil. Because the recipe is simple, there’s nothing to mask the off taste if you use mediocre vinegar and oil.

Also, I learned this year that one key to a good vinaigrette is to combine the vinegar and anything else you use in a bowl and then whisk as you pour in the olive oil. It makes a nice emulsion that doesn’t separate out.

Blog-wise, it was a good year as well. I had a post featured in Freshly Pressed for the first (and so far, only) time. That got me 1,200 visitors in one day — more, much more, than I had in all of 2010, the year I started.

Readership fell off quickly again after the Freshly Pressed post, but it continues to grow, and this has definitely been my best year yet. So, thank you, all of you, for reading. I hope you will continue. I’d also like to give shoutouts to those who comment the most, my friends Betty and Leigh, and the bloggers Espirational and Healthy Girl and The City.

And finally, just for kicks and those who are interested in such things, here is the WordPress report on The Back 40 in 2012. I’m pleased with it and hoping 2013 will be even better:

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 5,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.