Sweet Memories

It is rhubarb season here in Wisconsin. Mom used to have a large rhubarb patch with plants stretching the length of the two car garage. She made plenty of strawberry rhubarb jam, preserving it in clear mason jars so we would have the sweet treat throughout the year. Rhubarb sauce over vanilla ice cream sounds strange but is actually very good. A perennial favorite however, were her rhubarb custard pies with just the right amount of nutmeg to add to the flavor. Topped with whipped cream it was a treat worth waiting for. As children we were occasionally allowed to pick a stalk of rhubarb, and given a tin measuring cup with a generous amount of sugar to dip the rhubarb in. Of course we would leave that huge leaf on and eat right up close to it.  When I bought my first house, in the back unkempt yard was this plant with six foot stalks and huge leaves. It couldn't be.... Yes! it was rhubarb. Two very well established plants probably close to 50 years old. I worked to tame those plants, mowed around them and soon was able to reap the harvest. Years later when I moved, I made sure those plants came with. Today they are still very productive, I will be making jam, and of course my favorite, rhubarb custard pie. Yummmmm.