Apropos of Nothing v.21

I agree with Mr. Twain, but also it just makes me sad no end to see people rejoicing over this kind of thing. There's no place for rejoicing here in my opinion. It brings to mind the photos of people dancing in the streets celebrating the 'success' of the terrorist attacks that brought down the towers in New York. Hate is hate, regardless of where it's grown.

As a Buddhist, I try to live by the idea that a god or any outside power/being/force is not the way to happiness and peace, but your own thoughts and actions are the way to achieve that state. I try every day to think about the Eightfold Path. So for me, I sometimes try to stay inside my head, and let the world go by as it will.

I'm trying to decide what vegetables/fruit to plant this year. Strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, and some herbs. The rhubarb I planted last year is growing like mad. And so are the weeds.

I don't think rejoicing at the death of someone always means you hate him.

We just planted some Mara des bois strawberries; I had heard about how good they were and then serendipitously got to try some when we were in France last fall, and they were indeed luscious. I hope the homegrown ones are as tasty. We're also growing Cabot, which sounded sweet.

My peppers, eggplants and tomatoes are up in flats in the greenhouse. What are you going to do with your rhubarb? We have some but I never use it.

GG, I have a recipe for rhubarb pie, probably from my grandmother, that is a bit custardy (egg yolks and sugar) with a merangue topping that is always a hit in my family. That is about all I do with it, too, but my mother always made a breakfast sauce out of it by heating it with sugar ( no water as it is watery enough.) Pretty good stuff on the tart side.

I make a rhubarb cobbler, always the first fresh fruity thing in spring. Here's my mom's recipe:

Heat 4 C sliced rhubarb with 1 C sugar until softened, put in 9x13 pan.

Cover with cobbler topping: 3/4 C butter, 1 C sugar, 2 C flour, 1/2 t soda, 1 C coconut, 1/2 C walnuts.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 350. Let cool to lukewarm and serve with ice cream. Yum.

My mom also served rhubarb sauce with dinner (as Sharon says, just heat with sugar to taste until soft and broken down). Good with pork or chicken. Or serve it warm over ice cream. Never thought to serve it for breakfast, it would likely be good on pancakes.

Gary made a batch of wine with it one year, which was quite tasty. No clue what his recipe was (and he likely doesn't either). I believe we called it "Misty Rhubarb" because it didn't get as clear as he would have liked.

I make rhubarb pie, and also a sauce with fresh apricots that takes about 3 minutes to make and is delicious with chicken, pork, turkey, pound cake, ice-cream, pancakes, etc.

Sharon, I would love your rhubarb pie recipe! Bonehead's cobbler sounds good as well. Do you ever make "hard sauce" to go with the cobbler? It's just powdered sugar, butter, and a touch of a liquor such as Cointreau. Not sure of the spelling of that. It's mixed all together to form a mixture with the consistency of, maybe, a bit stiffer than toothpaste. It's a nice counterpoint to the tartness of the rhubarb. I'm going to try Bonehead's cobbler recipe but I have to substitute gluten free flour.

Mmmm, adding apricots sounds delicious, I'll have to give that a try.

Just stick halved and pitted fresh apricots in a pan with a splash of water, sugar to taste, and a dash of vanilla. Simmer until desired softness. If you want it to look fancy, it can be blended to make a smooth sauce. It will have a beautiful color.

‎"I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Martin Luther King Jr

Hello Katie! goood to see you again.
Rhubarb sauce (with Splenda) is what I make and freeze it. Then I can make pie, cobbler and anything I want by just scooping out the sauce. I love it with coffee in the morning on toast, on vanilla Ice cream, on top of tapioca pudding, on any fresh fruit, in yogurt, etc.

Anyone have a recipe for rhubarb vodka martinis?

I make strawberry rhubarb pie. It is a favorite in my house. Just make it like any fruit pie. Halve the strawberries and cut the rhubarb into 1 or 1and1/2" pieces.

Not an MLK junior quote, as I understand it . . .

Sharon's version of rhubarb pie:

3 egg yolks 3 c finely cut rhubarb
1 1/2 c sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 tbsp melted butter

Mix eggs and sugar. Add flour and butter, then 3 c finely cut rhubarb.
I let this sit and "meld" while I make a pie crust.

Put rhubarb mix into unbaked pie shell.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

For meringue topping:

Beat the three egg whites until stiff. Add 4 1/2 tbsp sugar, slowly, beating it into the stiff egg whites. When pie comes out of the oven, top with the meringue and brown at 400.

Judi, I would love the exact procedure for your hard sauce. It seems to be a really hard one to come by. It is also quite good on pound cake or such.

Deb, your cobbler recipe reminded me of the other recipe I use regularly for rhubarb, which is a lot quicker and easier than the pie: (I also do this regularly with blackberries)

Creeping Crust Cobbler

1/2 c butter
1 c flour
1 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c milk

2 c fruit and 1 c sugar, heated.

melt butter in a 10" baking dish

Mix flour, sugar and baking powder. Add milk and mix together.

Spoon over melted butter, then pour heated fruit over dough.
Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Crust will rise to the top and be golden brown. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

On those "creeping crust" recipes the crust always stays firmly on the bottom of the dish for me! I gave up on them...

GG, I think one of the secrets is that you need to use a lot more of the liquid from the heated fruit than you would think should be reasonable. I have had a few that were too dry because of that.

Agent 59, good sleuthing! Apparently all but the first line is a MLK quote but the first line belongs to someone else. In any event, it reflects my thoughts.

Yum, keep up the rhubarb recipes. We should continue this as other fruit/veggies ripen.

It has been a topic online everywhere for the last couple of days - people seem to be in the rejoice camp or the no-rejoice camp ad this is at the center. What you heard is what I heard. And MLK did "borrow" things from others once in awhile . . .

Portland, I was intrigued with your request for a rhubarb martini and looked online. Of the several I found, this one sounds most promising:

Simmer 3 C rhubarb in 1 C water for an hour. Strain and add sugar to taste, about 3 T per 6 oz juice (which is what you can expect).

For the martini: 1 oz fresh lime juice, 6 oz rhubarb juice, 6 oz Grey Goose

This only makes 2 drinks and takes a bit of time, although one could double the fruit step. The other recipes all sounded too sweet for my taste. I may give this a whirl this weekend and if so will report back.

Aha Bonehead! I was half joking about the martini, but now I must have it. My daughter and her husband, plus his parents, are all coming over for Mothers' Day. The kids are bringing the food, so my contribution may be the martinis - to get the party going!

Whoever the quote is from, or parts of it, I like the sentiment. The images on TV of shouting people with their fists in the air is, to me, unsettling.

Sun is pouring through the windows. Yes!

Rejoicing in the death of anyone is a sad statement for our species.

Bonehead you have D-mail. Date change

Worked in the yard today, with Ruth, 9:30 to 4:00. Wow, nice out there.
Trilliums. Nine stalks this year.

Tulips and laceleaf maple

Pretty, bright daffs

More daffs

Trout lily or that other word I can't spell without looking it up.

Another pot of tulips

anemones. Love these

I think this spot is so pretty. Those are spent snowdrop floliage, but there is a huge hosta under there that will soon cover that up for the summer.

This message was edited May 4, 2011 4:25 PM

Loverly, WW!!!

It is a gorgeous spot! Love the bleeding heart against the brick.

Pretty pretty pretty! I like how that spot will evolve with the hosta hiding under there.

Yesterday I planted strawberries and two grafted tomato plants. I need to get mulch for the berries - is bark the best? I read that the roots need cool soil to produce fruit, so it's not good to use something black. I don't want to use straw since most comes from wheat and that might have some implication if one cannot have gluten. I also planted a Jack Frost under a tree that I had limbed up a few weeks ago. There are also a few hostas under there, if I remember correctly!

Yesterday was so warm and sunny, but the light rain today feels good.

Wonderful Willow. We are a month and a half behind. Hope it warm up like you have in Puget sound. Love the picts!

I figured out how to download photos from the old camera. Apparently I don't even need a cord with this new computer! I just put in the memory chip and it reads the darned thing. Who knew? I had upwards of 150 photos on that thing. No worries, I will not post them all.

Thanks, Easter Bunny!

View from the front path.

View from the other direction showing the new path. I am LOVING the play chips as a path material.