Posted on 12 Comments

Favorite uses for rhubarb

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The boys and I went to the farm on Saturday, and it turned out it was their opening day.  I think we may even have been their first customers.  There wasn’t much set out in the shop just yet, but I did pick up some fresh rhubarb.

My plans for this batch? I’ll chop it up, combine it with the last frozen remnants of the 2009 strawberries and some orange juice, and puree it all together.  The puree can be substituted for the pumpkin in my pumpkin bread recipe.  It’s delicious!  And it’s about time I had something to munch on for breakfast that doesn’t come in prepackaged bar form…

Last year I made strawberry-rhubarb jam for the first time.  Spread on banana sandwich loaf with natural peanut butter, it was heavenly.  So, that’s a definite to make again this year.

I’ve been reading Deborah Madison’s new Seasonal Fruit Desserts, and she has some nice ideas, including a syrup that sounds like it would pair well with vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb seems to be available for a nice long time around here, so there’s plenty of opportunity for experimenting.

Do you have a favorite use for rhubarb that you’d be willing to share?

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Posted on 12 Comments

12 thoughts on “Favorite uses for rhubarb

  1. Oh! I absolutely LOVE rhubarb! I dream of having some in my garden – when I have a garden! I wonder if you can grow it on a sunny balcony? My favourite with rhubarb has got to be the simplest rhubarb crumble with oats and cinnamon, nice and hot, with lots of vanilla sauce sprinkled with cinammon on the side! Or all over! I really want some now! 🙂 You are lucky to be able to go and pick it yourself!
    .-= See Barbara’s latest blog post: Summer Tote =-.

    1. Ooh, that does sound delicious – adding it to my list now!

  2. Me again. Have been meaning to ask you about yuor lovely sandwich bags you made recently from oil cloth (I think). They’re rerally nice. Did you use a roller-foot on your sewing machine, or just a normal one? Thanks! Barbara
    .-= See Barbara’s latest blog post: Summer Tote =-.

    1. I just used my regular foot, but it was a complete pain in the neck. I have never changed the foot on my sewing machine, but I think I may consider trying something else the next time I want to make anything with oilcloth!

  3. It would probably work in this recipe, replacing one or two of the apples or pears:
    http://pennamite.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/crockpot-happiness/

    I remember picking rhubarb in my grandmother’s cousin’s backyard–he passed away in 1976, so it was way long back, but I remember how good it smelled when it was cooking down.
    .-= See Penny’s latest blog post: Mocha Antlers Hat =-.

    1. I think I bookmarked that when you first posted it, but I never tried it. Looks yummy! And I do have half a bag of ugly apples laying around…

  4. Definitely rhubarb crumble but with a bit of ground ginger in with the fruit. Served with vanilla ice cream.

    1. Sounds yummy. Wish I’d read this before I made muffins last night – I’d have used some ginger in them!

  5. This isn’t a food idea, but rhubarb makes a great metal pan cleaner, especially those with copper bottoms.

    1. Really?! I’ll have to try that when I have a spare stalk 🙂

  6. I’m still unconvinced rhubarb qualifies as edible unless mixed with a lot of other fruit and sugar 😀

    It is a pretty colour though and it does strip metal spots nicely. We have a semi wild clump of it in the yard.
    .-= See Elaine’s latest blog post: Necklace Trees =-.

    1. I saw somewhere that it can be used in stir-fry dishes alongside peppers & onions – that’s probably the only occasion I can think of where copious amounts of sugar would not be required!

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