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What is a Balaboosta?
Balaboosta (n.)(bah-lah-b00-sta) A Yiddish term meaning the perfect housewife, homemaker, wonderful mother, cook, and gracious hostess. She does it all and does it well.
I make simple food with easy recipes and I like to try new things. My family and friends love my cooking and always ask me to share, with them, what I know about food, flavor, and technique.

I'm not a professional chef and I've had no formal culinary training. What I know and do in the kitchen comes from three women...Nana, Grandma Della, and Rose, my mom. Each one of them knew more about putting a meal on the table than any fancy chef in a white hat. They were the ultimate Balaboostas.

What I offer you is a lifetime of experience in the kitchen with my compliments and theirs. I hope they'd be proud. I will bring you my recipes as I make them with photos of the actual food I'm preparing. I'm no professional photographer either but I promise, my food will speak for itself in every picture.

The food on my table isn't stacked in a trendy tower.
Instead, my food is stacked with flavor and full of my passion for cooking. So please come in, make yourself comfortable, and enjoy.

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Disclaimer: While most of my recipes are "Jewish Style", I do sometimes cook with pork. This might have been a great disappointment to some but my grandmothers knew that I live in modern world. I light Shabbos candles religiously but I have to admit...I do not keep a Kosher home.

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Healthier Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp



Ask anyone to describe a marriage made in heaven and they'll tell you about strawberries and rhubarb. The secret to a good crisp is the crumble that goes on top. To make my healthier version of this classic I use Splenda Brown Sugar Blend in place standard brown sugar. I use whole wheat flour in place of beached white. The result is the same delicious desert but with fewer calories and more fiber. That sounds like a winner to me.

This crisp is so easy. In summer I have rhubarb growing in my own backyard but I always keep a bag of frozen rhubarb on hand for the middle of winter. Using fresh strawberries will give you the best results but in pinch, frozen will do.

Ingredients...

For fruit...

  • 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
  • 3 cups chopped rhubarb
  • 3/4 cup Splenda sugar substitute
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
For Crumble Topping...
  • 1/4 cup margarine (use a healthier variety)
  • 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
Here's how you do it...

The fruit...
  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. In a large bowl gently mix the rhubarb, sliced strawberries, 3/4 Cup Splenda Sugar Substitute, and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  3. Pour into a 9x9" baking dish or deep pie plate.

The Topping...
  1. In a medium sized bowl cream together the margarine with 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend.
  2. Cut in the 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup rolled oats. (If you don't have a pastry cutter use a large fork) Continue until a well blended crumble has formed.
  3. Sprinkle over the fruit mixture.
  4. Bake 35-40 minutes
Allow to cool some before serving.

Serving suggestions...

  • serve warm with fat free vanilla ice cream
  • serve warm without ice cream

Hint: If you're worried about gooey drippings, place a cookie sheet under the baking dish.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks so much. I've never worked with rhubarb, and this came out wonderfully!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much, I've never worked with rhubarb before, and this came out great.