At 104 years old, Ruth Iversen still lives independently on her Sidney, Mont., farm, where she mows her yard, tends a garden, reads voraciously, sews, quilts, cooks and bakes. The Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Cooperative member maintains an old box of tried-and-true recipes, many of which were clipped from magazines years ago, including the whole-wheat buns she always has in her freezer, from a 1960 issue of Farm Journal.
Ruth’s in-season rhubarb pie is a beautiful shade of red and cinnamon warmth. She also shares her version of a homemade hot pocket, one of Ruth’s breakfast staples, which she found in a 2003 issue of Country Woman magazine.
Read more about Ruth here.
2 unbaked pie shells
4 cups rhubarb, cut into small pieces, fresh or frozen and undrained
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 T. cinnamon red hots
4 saltine crackers, crushed
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat eggs well. Add sugar and beat until the consistency of heavy cream. Add seasonings, red hots and crackers. Mix well. Dump in the rhubarb and stir.
Pour rhubarb filling into pan lined with pie crust. Cover with top crust. Make design by cutting slits. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place pie in oven and immediately turn down oven to 350 degrees. Bake 1 hour.
Recipe by Ruth Iversen, Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Cooperative
DOUGH:
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
¾ cup warm evaporated milk (110 to 115 degrees)
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole-wheat flour
FILLING:
1 lb. bulk pork sausage
½ cup onion, chopped
2 ½ cups shredded hashbrowns, thawed
7 eggs
3 T. milk
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. parsley, chopped
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
16 cheese slices
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add evaporated milk, oil, sugar, egg, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add remaining flour to form a soft dough (do not knead). Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, cook sausage and onion in a skillet over medium heat. Add hashbrowns. Combine lightly beaten eggs, milk and seasonings, then add to skillet, cooking until eggs just set. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley.
Punch down dough. Divide into 16 pieces. On a floured surface, roll out dough into 7-inch circles. Top each with about 1/3 cup filling and a cheese slice, fold dough over filling and pinch edges to seal. Place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
RUTH’S NOTE: These breakfast hot pockets freeze well. To reheat, wrap in a paper towel and microwave.
TEST KITCHEN NOTE: We (unintentionally) omitted the wheat flour and used all-purpose flour, so our pockets will be lighter in color. Our pockets required 15-20 minutes in the oven.
Recipe by Ruth Iversen, Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Cooperative
