In the earlier days when my mom was younger I used to take a vacation day from work and join her at her house where we would prepare, cook and freeze at least 15 rhubarb pies to enjoy through the winter months. Mom would prepare the dough basically by recall and roll it out with her trusty dowel into the pie plates. I would pick, wash, slice and prepare the rhubarb for the filling. There were two ovens cooking pies at all times (one in the kitchen and one in the basement). After each pie cooled off it was double wrapped in foil and placed in the freezer for future eating. It was an all-day job but sooooo rewarding. Just pull the frozen pie out of the freezer on a cold winter day and pop it in the oven for reheat and now you’ve got a great comfort dessert. This truly represents fond memories of what one calls the good old days. F.Y.I. Rhubarb is a vegetable that is prepared and eaten like a fruit. A good website for lots more info on rhubarb: http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetables/a/Rhubarb.htm Not doing that many pies anymore I took the time last year to find another great use for my rhubarb. I struck it rich when I made this jam recipe. I went to the Aldi’s grocery store and bought the ingredients at a lower cost so it wasn’t that expensive to prepare. I did invest in some ‘made for jelly’ canning jars that were a little more costly but I’ll be using these again, and again, and again. This is the recipe I used (which I doubled):
PINEAPPLE STRAWBERRY RHUBARB JAM4 c rhubarb, cut into 1/2 pieces
4 c sugar
1 can crushed pineapple 8 oz
1 pkg. strawberry jello 3 oz
Mix sugar and rhubarb and allow to stand until juice exudes (even overnight). Boil 12 minutes at a rolling boil. Add pineapple and simmer 3 minutes more. Remove from heat; add jello and stir until dissolved. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.
You’ll be surprised at the flavor – it doesn’t taste at all like rhubarb. Let me know if you try this and how successful it was.
If you’ve never canned before you’ll need to learn the correct method to prepare your jars. It’s not that difficult and by following these steps you’ll avoid the problem of not having your jar seal properly.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2816.asp
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