Marta Perry | A Sweet Treat from the Author of The Keepers of the Promise Series

Good morning, Fresh Fiction fans! In my current release, THE RESCUED, Book 2 of the Keepers of the Promise series, my Amish characters are often to be found either in the garden or the kitchen. And it’s pretty much the same at my house!

Here in Pennsylvania Dutch country, most people have gardens, given if it’s nothing more than a few tomato plants among the flowers. For those who don’t, the Curb Market at Market Square has been running for the past two hundred years or so, and there’s fresh produce waiting to be purchased three times a week during the summer. With all this bounty, it’s small wonder that we tend to talk cooking, baking, and preserving much of the time—to the extent that some might find boring!

Right now it’s rhubarb and strawberry season at our house. The strawberry patch has outdone itself this year, as has the rhubarb, and my husband finally had to point out to me that we really couldn’t expect to eat any more jars of jam in the course of the year, no matter how good it was.

So I thought you might like to try a couple of the recipes mentioned in my story: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Rhubarb Crisp.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB

1. Prepare the pastry for a generously-sized two-crust pie. I like to add a little zip to the crust by using orange juice in place of water in preparing it, but that’s up to individual taste.

2. Into a large bowl, place 3 cups of rhubarb, cut into one-inch slices, 1 ½ cups of sliced fresh strawberries, 1 ¼ cup of sugar, 3 Tablespoons of flour, and a dash of salt. Stir to mix and release the juices.

3. Put the bottom crust into a nine-inch pie plate. Add the rhubarb and strawberry mixture. Dot with butter and add top crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes until nicely browned. (Warning: the filling will bubble over easily.)

RHUBARB CRISP

1. Butter or spray a nine-inch round or square pie.

2. Mix together 3 cups of rhubarb, cut into 1-inch slices, 1 cup of sugar, and 3 Tablespoons of flour. Place in prepared pan.

3. Mix topping: Mix together ½ cup of sugar and ¾ cups of flour. Cut in 1/3 cup of butter or margarine, cutting until the mixture forms fine crumbs. Place atop the rhubar mixture. The topping is generous. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or until topping is crisp and brown. Cool. Serve still warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

GIVEAWAY

What's your favorite: pie or crisp? Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a copy of THE RESCUED.

About Marta Perry

Marta Perry realized she wanted to be a writer at age eight, when she read her first Nancy Drew novel. Most girls reached the end of that book wanting to be Nancy. Marta wanted to be the person who created the story.

The dream lay hidden for years while she pursued other career goals, but eventually it re-surfaced, and she began to write, beginning with short children’s stories for Sunday school take-home papers. After seeing hundreds of her short stories published in a variety of magazines, Marta finally started work on the novel she’d always wanted to write. Thirty-some published novels later, she still feels the same excitement when she begins a new book.

A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and her own Pennsylvania Dutch roots led Marta to the books she writes now about the Amish. The Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books are longer, more complex emotional stories with Amish main characters, while her Love Inspired suspense stories are shorter, more adventure-filled books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country. She also writes a Love Inspired series, The Bodine Family, set on the South Carolina coast where she and her husband have a second home.

Marta lives with her husband in a century-old farmhouse in the Pennsylvania countryside, but spends winters at their vacation home in South Carolina. When she’s not writing, she’s active in the life of her church and enjoys traveling and spending time with her three children and six beautiful grandchildren.

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About THE RESCUED

As an Amish wife and mother struggles to hold her family together, a story from the past teaches her how to face her daily challenges with strength and love . . .

In modern day central Pennsylvania, Judith Wegler tries to heal the growing rift between her husband, Isaac, and his teenage brother Joseph—whom Judith and Isaac have raised as their own ever since both brothers lost their parents and siblings in a horrific fire. Meanwhile, Isaac’s hurtful silence about this tragic past has robbed Judith of any certainty of her husband’s love.

But when Judith’s grandmother gifts her with an antique study table, she discovers a hidden packet of letters that changes her life . . .

In 1953, widow Mattie Lapp fights against the county’s attempts to force Amish children to attend a consolidated public school, even if it means arrest and imprisonment. Mattie knows she can’t face this challenge alone, and turns to her late husband’s cousin Adam for help, but she’s terrified at the prospect of relying on someone else.

Now, as the two women’s stories converge, both must learn to stand up for their beliefs and to love again, even when it means risking their hearts . . .