WOULD YOU TURN DOWN

RHUBARB PIE?

My next-door neighbour phoned yesterday afternoon and said she had remembered that I had mentioned that I had never tasted rhubarb before. She also said she had just made a rhubarb pie from the gorgeous rhubarb growing in her garden and asked if I’d like to try some of her pie…DUH!!! (Of course I said YES!)

I love swapping recipes (and samples) with Linda and her family. They have produced some amazing (some simple and some more complicated) treats to share with us.

So, last night after our supper we tucked into a genuine home-grown/homemade rhubarb pie. I always thought that rhubarb pie had to be red or pink, but this one was a sort of celery-green.

My hubby savoured each bite and talked about how long it had been since he had tasted this delicious treat and how it brought back memories (what a nice compliment really). I watched him first to see what his reaction was before I took my first bite. I had been warned about the very tart flavour, so I was a little trepidatious…but after the first bite, I was certainly hooked. I had a small piece warmed up last night, but prefer it cold like I had it this afternoon. In both cases it was very nice.

It’s a bit like a lemony tart really. Not too sweet like too many lemony treats are, and with a little whipped cream or ice cream it is just a brilliant thing to behold. Now I can imagine rhubarb and strawberry together, among other things, and I am looking forward to experimenting on my own and, of course, swapping one more recipe with Linda (thank you again!).

I wanted to know a little more about this funny vegetable, so I looked up a bit of info on it. Did you know that the leaves are toxic, or that the plants are grown not only as a food, but also as a medicinal plant? Some might be pleased to discover it was used as a slimming agent, but (wait for it)...only because of it's strong laxative effect. I suspect this is one veg you wouldn't want to binge on anyway...

Once I have done a little experimenting on my own and come up with something really lovely, I will post a rhubarb recipe for you all. Until then, you can drool over this photo of Linda’s pie…mmmmm.