A few days ago I found out that a friend’s breast cancer has re-appeared. It was a strange kind of conversation as I expected to be quite triggered since breast cancer is what took my Mom’s life, yet this friend had a very positive outlook, was sure she knew how and why it had re-appeared and was determined to keep living her life. I found it to be quite a stark contrast to my Mom’s outlook at the time she was going through it all. It stopped me in my tracks and forced my attention inward as I delved into my own life, especially my life since my daughter has been born.
By now I’m sure almost everyone has heard the saying “it’s the journey, not the destination that matters”. This is the saying that rang through my head that day as if it dropped into my mind as a reminder from above. I reminisced on earlier years and remembered that I truly enjoyed life’s journey. Fast forward to the last two years and I quickly realized just how much I have been pin point focused on the destination… each nap, each bedtime, each weekend. It’s as if I am trying to will some spaces of time to speed up, others to slow right down and just how down right exhausting that is. Especially when really, the final destination is the death of this life anyways.
While the process of learning to enjoy the journey has been ongoing and is one I am sure will continue for some time, I sure am thankful for that conversation that knocked me out of the destination focused rut I was stuck in!
Speaking of enjoying the journey, baking through my Mom’s hand written recipes is something I am finding hard to not rush through so I am trying to take my time understanding the notes she wrote and pondering why she decided to make a certain recipe. Take this rhubarb pecan galette for example. I have no memory of her making it so I don’t what prompted her to go looking for a recipe like this (I couldn’t find anything similar online) or who she enjoyed it with.
I like to imagine that when she saw the rhubarb plant in her garden growing with fury that she felt inspired to look through her cookbooks and try a new combination of flavours. I like to imagine her donning her bright purple apron adorned with colourful snail shapes, humming along to some random tune while she prepared this rhubarb pecan galette and made an extraordinary amount of dishes to clean up afterwards.
Happy baking!
Sophie
If you liked this recipe you are going to love these ones!
Rustic Cherry Galette
Blackberry Spelt Tart
Upside Down Rhubarb Spelt Cake
Rhubarb Pecan Galette with Spelt Pastry
Ingredients
- 6 cups rhubarb cut into small chunks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup organic all purpose, unbleached spelt flour
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- zest of one small orange
- 1/4 cup pecans roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
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Prepare pie dough as instructed in the Flaky Spelt Pie Pastry recipe up to and including step 3.
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Mix the rhubarb, sugar, spelt flour, nutmeg and orange zest in a large bowl. Set aside.
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Roll out one piece of pie dough into a 16" circle (or 2" wider than the width of the baking sheet). Trim the edges with a knife or pastry cutter if desired. Gently fold the dough in half and then in quarters, transfer it to the baking sheet and unfold it. Pile the rhubarb mixture in the center of the dough leaving an approximately 2" border. Fold the edges over the mixture. Sprinkle the pecans on top of the visible rhubarb mixture. Brush the edges of the dough with milk and sprinkle generously with sugar.
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Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the rhubarb is soft. Remove it from the oven and allow the galette to cool on the baking sheet until the mixture stops bubbling, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
