The other day after we looked at our garden (our peas are having troubles), I checked the rhubarb and it was growing out of control. So, I decided to pick some rhubarb to make a rhubarb pie. Last time we picked rhubarb I had to go out twice because we were about 3 stalks too short, so this time I just tried to thin it evenly and not worry about how much I was gathering. Well when I got inside and started cutting it up, I realized that I had 12 cups of chopped rhubarb not 4 cups! So I looked around for recipes and decided I'd make my pie and then some rhubarb fruit leather.
Unfortunately, the fruit leather (vegetable leather?) didn't turn out the first time because it got dried to a crisp overnight. It was supposed to take longer to dry but it didn't. It also tasted really gross, so I tried again, making up my own recipe and it worked! I started dehydrating at about 7pm, thinking that it would be done by about midnight (the time it took the other leather to dry), but it didn't get done until 7am! Needless to say since I stayed up to check it every hour or so, my sleep schedule has been thrown off the past 2 days. But I'm trying to get it back to normal, and get up with Ryan at 5am to eat breakfast with him. Anyways, here are some pictures.
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| Rhubarb patch before picking.. |
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| I took this to try and show how HUGE the stalks/leave are! |
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| I couldn't get this whole leaf in the picture with my hand because I couldn't lean back far enough and still have my hand next to the picture! This leaf had to be about 1.5 feet in diameter, at least! |
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| Rhubarb after picking 12+ cups... hmm.. doesn't look like I did much. |
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| Bucket of rhubarb |
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| Finished, but unbaked rhubarb pie. I really wanted to make this pie because I wanted to try a lattice crust. I think it turned out well. |
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| Ryan asked me when he saw the pie if I put the "R" on the pie for Rankin or Russell. I put it on for both Russell and Rhubarb, silly husband! |
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| Finished cooked pie! It now is about 1/2 gone. |
Sorry, no pictures of the fruit leather, although Ryan took some to work yesterday and really liked them for a snack to eat. However, rhubarb bread (courtesy of Jeff and Michelle) is next on the list of rhubarb recipes to try!
