I used to spend the long dusty days of harvest in the stifling cab of an old Ford grain truck. To help pass the time I would daydream about supper, which my mother-in-law would bring out to the field.
Perhaps we would have garden lettuce with sweet cream dressing, 'cukes and onions in vinegar, or string beans with butter. It could be Hunter's Stew, Beef Stroganoff, or BBQ ribs. Would she bring rhubarb upside-down cake, apple pie, angel food slices with lemon icing? There might be Flathead cherries, truck farm peaches, or watermelon. We could always count on muffins, rolls or bread, and an icy bucket of fresh-brewed Lipton's tea.
In addition to the regular work of keeping the home fires burning, Mom's labors began at sunrise with a trip to the garden and getting the tea started. She might have canning, baking and watering the garden to accomplish before the heat of the day. No matter how she spent her harvest days, ours were made immensely better by her labor.
Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
-Midge Edwards
5 c. chopped rhubarb
1 c. sugar
3 oz. pkg. raspberry Jell-O
3 c. mini marshmallows
1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
Arrange chopped rhubarb in greased 9x13" pan. Sprinkle on sugar and dry Jell-O. Top with marshmallows. Prepare cake mix according to package and pour batter over. Bake 50 – 55 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool 5 minutes and turn over onto cookie sheet or platter. Good served warm with whipped cream. NOTE: can substitute 5 cups fresh peach slices and orange Jell-O.
