Joy! One of the biggest thrills of Spring is the first rhubarb pie of the season, and we had ours yesterday! I had actually picked the rhubarb Sunday afternoon. We had spent much of the afternoon working in the garden, getting most of the remaining plants and seeds into the ground. (We’ve still got tomato plants and corn under the grow lights inside; we’ll plant them after Memorial Day.) It was getting windy and cooling down, but having been subjected to several hours of temptation by the lush new growth of the rhubarb plants, I couldn’t help myself: I went inside and got a knife and a bowl and proceeded to pick just enough of the young shoots to fill a pie!
Last night after work, I quickly rolled out a crust and filled the pie. I gave the unbaked pie along with baking instructions to my trusty friend, who took them to his place and got the baking started while I walked the few miles to his house for fresh air and exercise. When I approached his house, I was listening to the cardinals and an oriole singing in the surrounding woods. But it was the smell of the finished pie that really grabbed my attention!
Rhubarb pie takes me back to my youth, making me think of my Mom and her amazing cooking. One of the things she always did when baking was roll any extra pie crust into balls, roll them in cinnamon/sugar mix, and bake them alongside the pie. These “dough balls,” as we unceremoniously refered to them, were always a favorite treat — as if the pie itself were not enough, these were an added bonus! We had about 8 this time, several of which were eaten immediately, and the remainder of which went with us for lunch today.
As to recipes for Rhubarb pie, here’s an instance where I rely on good ol’ Betty — Betty Crocker cookbook, that is! Rhubard is so easy to grow and so much fun to eat, so I recommend you ‘go for it’! Oh — and when picking out plants for your garden, it’s worth the extra effort to get red plants vs. green. They make everything so much prettier! Enjoy!
