Rhubarb Crisp

Today Heather harvested the rhubarb. We usually harvest our rhubarb mid to late June, freezing several dozen heaping quart bags as well as heaping pints. I planted some newer rhubarb last year, and we've been letting some of the old plants go to seed and are finding baby plants.

When we built our home 25 years ago chokecherries, wild raspberries and the rhubarb were already here, mainly at the edge of a bluespruce and aspen woods, with the rhubarb seeded out into the meadow. There's evidence of a homestead foundation from long ago here. We figure the rhubarb is 100 years old.

We fenced in a large area there for a garden. It's a ways from the house so now I've got more permanent or end of season plants - like asparagus, berry bushes like currents, saskatoon blueberries, canadian bred cherries and plums. I did plant blueberries too, for fun, and added almost 3/4ths of the dirt as peat, so to be acid. Then I plant all the broccoli cabbage family there.

From the rhubarb I primarily make rhubarb custard pie and rhubarbade, yes ... it's my version I invented of a beverage like lemonade. Then someone made rhubarb crisp for a function that I LOVE, so I got the recipe.

RHUBARB CRISP

Set oven at 350 and grease a 9x9 dish.

Mix together, cutting in the butter-
1C rolled oats
1/2C flour (I always use whole grain)
1C brown sugar
1/2C butter (I usually use unsalted)

Press 1/2 of this mixture in the dish and spread
2+C 1/2"chopped rhubarb
Sprinkle on the other 1/2 of the above mixture and
1/2C coarse chopped pecans

Bake for 45 minutes.

For some of you, you might be asking, "Heather?" Yes, Heather, Bill and 16 month old Will are here for a visit. Heather always loved harvesting rhubarb and helping with preserving food and doing chicken chores. Once she got married and it's pretty much just Monte and me, we got rid of the chickens (but I'm missing them and we may make a new coup up by the house next Spring and have SOME - not lots like before).

New Blog

Now I'm going to have three blogs: the blog I posted on for two years is intact at www.kareyscontemplations.blogspot.com. I posted recipes there. But I want a place to post and organize recipes and talk about good food. So here 'tis the place!

The pictured cookstove in the Karey's Kitchen header is my cookstove. It sits in our great room between the kitchen and dining area. The great room also consists of a sitting area with couches, wing-back chairs, and rocker - we call it "the keeping room".

Guests have walked in wondering if that stove is my cooking source. But I do have a regular electric glass top stove/range, that's a part of the kitchen island. And I do have a microwave combo convection oven, as well as a toaster oven - both housed in wall storage where a pull out shelf holds my Bosch Universal kitchen mixer. And my grain grinder is stored on the bottom shelf. I so enjoy and use all my kitchen toys - my wonderful servants!

The cookstove is used primarily to take the chill off the area on cold days when the sun's not shining. If it's burning for long, I often cook on it. Might as well keep a soup or stew simmering. If the electricity goes out ... fine. It's a wonderful place to pull the rocking chair up to, open the oven door for the heat to escape into the room, and prop feet upon, with a warm beverage and read. Great atmosphere!