Sharing recipes creates bonds between friends

Asking for a friend’s recipe is a way to compliment them on their cooking and strengthen your relationship with them

Spring has finally come and a favourite sign of its return is the appearance of rhubarb in my garden. The first fruit ready to harvest, it offers something different for a visit with friends and family and I look forward to the day it’s grown big enough to use.

Many recipes were given to me by a friend. Asking for a friend’s recipe is a way to compliment them on their cooking. Some shared recipes update us to a new way of cooking an old favourite while others offer directions for a new dish.

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I like to write the giver’s name on the card so when I take it out of the recipe box, I’m reminded of our friendship. I’ve moved a few times and haven’t seen some of my old friends for quite a while. It’s a good reminder to call them and a nice conversation starter is to say I’m making their dessert, casserole, or salad.

Recipes can also be part of a family tradition shared through generations. We don’t often think of the kitchen recipe box as a form of family history but sometimes, it is. I have a few recipes passed on to me from my mother and some are ones she received from her mother.

The recipe I’m sharing with you today went the other way — I gave it to my mother.

On my copy, I recorded that I received this one from my friend, Nettie. When sorting through my mother’s things, I found the same recipe, and on her copy, she’d written, “Sheri made just half a recipe and had lots for the six of us, with ice cream on top.”

It must be good if it’s been gifted from a friend and then passed on to a family member. Try it out and share it with your friends or family. They may ask for the recipe.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Coffee Cake

The name coffee cake gives the signal it’s to be eaten with friends over coffee, but at my house, it’s dessert. The filling can be made ahead.

Filling:

3 c. rhubarb, frozen or fresh
16 oz. frozen, sliced strawberries
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch

Cook rhubarb and strawberries together for five minutes. Add lemon juice. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a cup first and mix into the fruit mixture.

Simmer four to five minutes until thickened.

Cool. The fastest way to cool it is to set the pot in a few inches of cold water in the sink.

Batter:

3 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. margarine or butter
1 c. sour milk or buttermilk (To make milk go sour, add 1 tsp. vinegar to 1 c. milk and let it sit a few minutes.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Cut in margarine to fine crumbs. In a separate bowl, beat buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and add to flour mixture.

Stir till moistened.

Spread half the batter in a 10 x 13 inch pan. Add the fruit filling by small spoonfuls on top. Spoon remaining batter on by small spoonfuls and leave it alone; don’t try to spread it out.

Crumb topping: