Tag: rhubarb

Baking · Gardening

Tasty Rhubarb Scones

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five rhubarb scones on a blue plate

Fresh rhubarb pecan scones arrive hot from the oven in honor of this first day of meteorological summer.  Our lush rhubarb patch with five plants on the south side of the garage sprouted early and produced crisps in April, bread and cakes in May, and dozens of scones baked each month.

Moving from the alley to our raised bed, nearly all the planting is complete thanks to the healthy selections at Sargent’s on 2nd and Annie’s in Madison: beets, cucumbers, nasturtiums, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and zucchini, as well as garlic that survived a dry, nearly snowless winter.  We revel in the wonder that is summer in Minnesota, where we experience frigid short winter days only to enjoy, just months later, long fertile growing hours.

Baking · Gardening

Lemonless Lemonade

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muffins on a blue plate and a glass of pink lemonade
Sour cream rhubarb muffins & rhubarb-ade

This summer’s crop of rhubarb is full to nearly overwhelming.  Which is why, having already baked my forever favorite – rhubarb pecan scones, as well as two loaves of bread, three crisps, a dozen muffins, and two batches of sauce for the freezer, I recently spent a rainy afternoon checking cookbook indexes for variations on the rhubarb theme.

New to my repertoire is rhubarb lemonade although, for truth in advertising, this lemonade uses no lemons. “Rhubarb-ade” is easy to prepare with the added benefit of being high in vitamin C.

Directions:  Chop three cups of rhubarb, place in a glass bowl, cover with water and let this rest on the kitchen counter overnight; strain and sweeten to taste.  The sweet-tart, pink concoction is a refreshing summer beverage (even if the rhubarb sauce ice cubes proved less than successful as they rested on the bottom of the glass.)

Cheers! Prosit! Sláinte!

Baking

First taste of spring

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two rhubarb scones on a blue plate with one stalk of rhubarb resting along the top edge

While technically a vegetable, rhubarb (tart and firm) enables a baker to make that first garden foray into spring, most often transforming garden goodness into sweet confections. The emerald green, heart shaped leaves emerge after snowmelt with just a few sunny hours during blustery spring days.  The tastiness of deep summer fruits like blueberries and cherries is still just a dream; hidden in the tight buds whose flowers have yet to reveal themselves in riotous color.  Like generations of bakers before me, our rhubarb patch called to my morning creativity and tomorrow we will enjoy a favorite sweet concoction, Rhubarb Pecan Scones.  

With bibliographic appreciation to Kim Ode and her book, Rhubarb Renaissance, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012, as part of the northern plate series.

Gardening

A productive morning…

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… fresh from the garden direct to the kitchen!

four vinegar bottles on wooden table with a sprig of thyme
The robust potted thyme has been paired with apple cider vinegar and black peppercorns creating this summer’s herb infused vinegar.

five round rhubarb scone on a blue plate on a purple background
The last harvesting of this year’s rhubarb has been transformed into Rhubarb Pecan Scones and then tucked away for a chilly winter solstice breakfast. 
Gardening

Brought to you by the letter B

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a round basket filled with bright green basil leaves
fresh blueberries in a gray and blue porcelain bowl

If we were on Sesame Street, today’s harvest would be a B – day with a Basket of Basil, a Bunch of Broccoli, and a little bit of Blueberries.

The basil is drying in the oven, the broccoli is ready for tonight’s salad and the blueberries may make muffins, grace vanilla ice cream, or simply provide the perfect snack.  We anticipate a meager berry season as this first picking only yielded a cup and did not fill the Caradori bowl.  Thus, the tasty decisions must be made with careful deliberation.

After the Bs, my alphabet harvest gets a bit jumbled, as I also harvested Mini-Me™ cucumbers (a first time variety in our garden) and rhubarb for another dozen scones.

Baking

Summer sweets for our winter pleasure

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left to right: two triangular scones, three slices of bread, five blueberry muffins on a clear plate with painted blue flowers
Rhubarb Pecan Scones, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread and Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins – July 2021

The beauty and the bane of summer bounty are the kitchen hours required to transform a morning’s abundance into delicious treats.  On blue sky, temperature-perfect days just made for hours of pleasure on my screened porch knitting the 4-Day Fireworks KAL sweater, I joined the women of ages past toiling in summer kitchens.  Admittedly, my experience was far more pleasant as my work time was spent in air conditioned comfort with good tunes coming from surround sound.  Some of the tasty delights will be eaten immediately and some will be stashed in our small deep freeze to be enjoyed on frigid winter days as a talisman against the cold and a sunny reminder that spring will come, even in the North Country.

My Sunday & Monday garden-to-kitchen yield:

  • Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins – two dozen regular-sized and 24 minis using  a recipe shared by Betty D. from Older Mommy Still Yummy
  • 16 Rhubarb Pecan Scones – an annual favorite from Rhubarb Renaissance by Kim Ode 
  • Two loaves of Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread – courtesy of Mary Ann H. and the St. Ann’s Parish Cookbook, Olmitz, Kansas; and
  • Tsatsiki – The Enchanted Broccoli Forest variety just because we have an abundance of cucumbers and it goes so well with toasted pita bread and Greek seasoned chicken-kabobs.

Bon appétit!

Baking

A Rainy Rhubarb Baking Day

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Having returned from Eau Claire with a large bunch of tartness, tonight we will enjoy a freshly baked crisp, topped with newly mixed Crème fraîche and served with Rhubarb Daiquiris.  Mom’s patch is overflowing with hefty stalks, so full my harvest went undetected.  In contrast, our small cluster of thin stems barely able to support the large triangular leaves struggles.  I suspect the ginormous root system of the neighbor’s black walnut to be the unhealthy culprit.  While the tree is gone, the natural chemicals genetically designed to give this once deciduous giant an advantage, may still be contributing to unhealthy dirt.  After all – who cannot grow rhubarb?

Baking · Gardening

Last of the season

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The old wives’ tale declared rhubarb poison after the 4th of July although how a vegetable could or would negatively alter its chemical structure to coincide with a US holiday is a horticultural mystery.  In reality and referencing a much more reliable source, the University of Minnesota Agricultural Service, it is best to harvest this vegetable from early spring through the end of June allowing the remainder of the summer growing season to replenish the energy needed to winter over in our harsh northern clime.  So while Mom’s rhubarb patch is still tempting me with its verdant leaves, it is best left to rest.  Making this my last Rhubarb Crisp of the season. 

There are as many rhubarb crisp recipes as there are bakers.  This one is tried and true from Mom.  The combination of ingredients and ease makes it Richard’s and my favorite summer dessert especially with a dollop of freshly made Crème Fraîche. 

Always on the lookout for new rhubarb adventures, there have been summers when I have experimented with rhubarb’s versatility – drinking rhubarb daiquiris or grilling with rhubarb barbeque sauce.  May be it is Covid related but for this summer’s baking treats I focused entirely on old favorites:  breads, crisps, muffins, and scones.

While my trusted Joy of Cooking, © 1975, only provides seven recipes, Rhubarb Recipes by complied by Jeanne DeMars, © 1991, and Rhubarb Renaissance by Kim Ode published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, © 2012, as part of Our Northern Plate Series each offer hundreds of baking and cooking options.

Whether you have this wonderful plant growing in your yard or you purchase stalks at your local farmers’ market, explore all the delicious treats rhubarb offers but wait until next summer.