An interesting question regarding the Help Wanted portion of Recipe Box circles around which request will garner the most attention from our readers. Some requests draw only a few responses; others completely take over the bin where the files are stored.
The single file selected for this issue is simply labeled “Rhubarb,” and it’s at least 3 inches deep and expanding.
EASY RHUBARB RECIPES:
Rhubarb Crunch Recipe
Rhubarb Streusel Pie Recipe
Rhubarb Pie Recipe
Rhubarb Pork Chops Recipe
Frosted Rhubarb Cookie Recipe
Cherry Rhubarb Jam Recipe
Rhubarb Pizza Recipe
Rhubarb Dessert Recipe
Rhubarb Roly Poly Recipe
Blueberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe
Rhubarb Cream Pie Recipe
Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie Recipe
Joanna Stayt in Flint, Michigan, writes a heartfelt request: “My only granddaughter just got married. They are in the military and move a lot, and she says they both feel less cut off and not so far from home when they can find rhubarb. I’ve been going through every cookbook and magazine I come across to find any and all rhubarb recipes to create a rhubarb recipe book for them. So if some of your GRIT family and friends could help, it would sure help make a newlywed couple’s time away from home so much easier on them both.”
Grandma Jody, as she’s known to her family, pushed all the right buttons, and her fellow GRIT readers responded with kind enthusiasm, many sending multiple recipes.
Patricia Smith, Kansas City, Kansas, writes: “I love rhubarb any way you fix it. I grow my rhubarb, clean it, cut it up in 1/2-inch pieces and put in freezer bags.”
“I, too, am military,” writes Betty Stover, Huron, Tennessee. “My husband retired after our family gave 44 years to the military. I find my rhubarb in the Navy commissary during the season. It grows great up north, but it doesn’t freeze hard enough here in Tennessee in the winter for the plant to produce.” She suggests a cookbook just for rhubarb: Ritzy Rhubarb Secrets Cookbook. For a copy, write Community Cookbooks, P.O. Box 11, Litchville, ND 58461; cost is $12 (includes shipping).
Another cookbook is The Joy of Rhubarb by Theresa Millang. Tammi Klawitter, Redgranite, Wisconsin, writes, “My local Fleet Farm carries this series of cookbooks.” You can find it on the website of the publisher, Adventure Publications, or by calling 800-678-7006; the cost is $12.95 plus $2.75 for shipping.
And yet another cookbook, Pauline’s Rhubarb Cookbook, is available from Pterodactyl Press by writing Floyd Pearce, 409 Jackson St., Cumberland, IA 50843, or emailing him at floyd_pearce@yahoo.com. The book is available for $20 plus $3 shipping, and Floyd will print out a copy as each request comes in.
(Maxine Christensen, Exira, Iowa, writes, “I wrote an article about a couple who published a book with nothing but rhubarb recipes. They gave me a free copy of Pauline’s Rhubarb Cookbook. There are 171 recipes, 32 for pies. I never realized you could make so many things with rhubarb.”)
For a few additional tips on rhubarb, Laverne Monroe, Nevada, Missouri, sends this from one of her Kraft cookbooks:
• Don’t eat the leaves; they can be toxic.
• Substitute rhubarb for half the fruit in your favorite crisp and cobbler recipes, or stir chopped rhubarb into muffin, other quick-bread and coffee-cake batters.
• Rhubarb is easy to grow and ready to harvest early – March in some areas. While used as a fruit, it is technically a vegetable.
So here you have it: Rhubarb in all its glory, and in any dish you can imagine. I’m looking forward to hearing from Grandma Jody on the success of her rhubarb recipe book for her military grandkids.
Help wanted
Louise White, Bentonville, Arkansas, hopes someone has two recipes from her grandmother’s era. Her grandmother arrived in the United States as a young bride in 1898. The first recipe is for Christmas Pudding, which was a molded chocolate dessert with currants and finely chopped nuts, probably English walnuts, and it was served with a dollop of whipped cream. The second is for Wine Soup. It was dark red in color, clear, and thickened with something, Louise says. “I believe the soup base was made and the wine added after it was cooked because it had a little zip to it.”
If you’ve been looking for a long-lost recipe, or can provide one, please write to Recipe Box, c/o GRIT, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609, or email us at RecipeBox@grit.com. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Recipes cannot be returned, as they are sent to the person requesting the recipe. Recipe requests and responses will be printed at our discretion as space allows. Addresses are not printed to allow GRIT the opportunity to share recipes with readers before sending them on.
