Ronneburg Rhubarb Pie and Ronneburg Cottage Cheese

Hey, everyone. Hope the weather for those in the Midwest has kind of dried out and warmed up a bit.

We took a drive Saturday headed to the Greeley, Iowa fireman's pancake breakfast and a Civil War reenactment over near Elkader. It was windy and there was a frosty bite to the air that made you not want to be out of doors too long with out a good jacket. Saturday was just not our day. Den had the wrong day for the pancake breakfast, that would have been yesterday, Sunday, and we had other plans. So we took off for Elkader only to be told that the man that was organizing things had taken ill and it was cancelled until next year. So we drove into Edgewood and stopped for coffee and a cinnamon roll at Cafe Rose' and visited with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge as we enjoyed our treats.

Sunday worked out better. We took off early for the Amanas and had an early lunch at The Ronneburg Restaurant. The Amana Colonies were settled back in the mid 1800's but some German Lutherans who had fled Germany for religious issues and settled in Ebenezer, New York and soon out grew that area and found a home in the area that we know as the Amana Colonies. The group known as the"Community of True Inspiration" was a communal group to the fullest extent. No one's home had it's own kitchen. In the Amana community the building that is now the Ronneburg was the communal kitchen and dining hall. The communities were very nearly completely self sufficient in every way, requiring and having very little contact with the outside world. Well, being America, that culture was taken over by capitalism and now all of the homes have kitchens and the Ronneburg charges for the food that they provide. Good German fare, by the way.

On the table's placemats they shared a couple the recipes and I thought that I would pass them on to you as well.


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Ronneburg's Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pie

To start you need your favorite single crust ready, prepped and in the pan.

Filling:

4 C. rhubarb, diced
2 eggs
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
1 Tbsp. flour
pinch of salt

Evenly distribute the rhubarb in the pie shell.
In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick.
Add milk, flour and salt. Beat until well blended.
Pour over diced rhubarb.
Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until firm in the center

If you are using this recipe to make other fruit pies, reduce the fruit to 3 cups.

I haven't tried this one yet but did have their strawberry/rhubarb pie. The waitress asked me what I thought of it and I told her that she should tell the cook to add a teaspoon each of vanilla and cinnamon and it would be even better. Hey, she asked and I always tell the truth as I see it.

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The other recipe that we picked up was for Ronneburg Cottage Cheese. Now I love good cottage cheese. I don't like it to taste sour or bitter and brands like Land of Lakes, Well's Blue Bunny and Shamrock make the best. Den had never eaten cottage cheese in his life, never. His dad had him convinced that it was something rotten. Yes, and this is the person that delights in Maytag Blue Cheese, now you tell me the logic in all of that reasoning. I think that I will have to roll up my pant legs a bit to get through it. I talked him into trying this and really thinks that I should have it on hand. Being a cottage cheese lover myself, I really liked this one.

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Ronneburg Cottage Cheese

1 16 oz. carton cottage cheese, go for the good stuff, please
1 scallion, chopped and use some of the green (yesterday's had chives in it instead of the scallion which made the taste a bit more subtle. I would say a good tablespoon for the amount of cottage cheese)
2 Tbsp. buttermilk
dash of salt

It had a nice taste and as I said Den liked it and had prior to this point in his 62 years not eaten and swore it was evil rotten stuff.


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The point of the trip was the tickets that Den had gotten to see "Always........Patsy Cline" at the Old Creamery Theatre. The show was great. Molly Hammer nailed the tonations and tempo of Patsy Cline. There wasn't a bad seat in the house. Great small theater and yes we enjoyed ourselves.

Well, the washer has stopped and I have a ton of things to get done today, so I should let you all go and talk to you next time.

God Bless and Hugs To All,Linda