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About three weeks ago I had rhubarb recipes in this column. Guess what….more rhubarb recipes.  A friend of mine who works in the produce dept. at Brink’s was telling me that his wife had made all of the recipes in that column and they were delicious, which made me happy. I’m not “patting myself on the back” as all of the recipes come from various cookbooks.  I try to choose recipes you might like to make and have been asked several times if I’ve tried all of them. No, but having cooked for about 60 years I can pretty much tell by the ingredients what the outcome will be and whether or not you might like to make it. I’m sure there are many “seasoned” homemakers who do the same thing.

Susie, I hope you will make some of these recipes and perhaps make them again. Thanks for the input Bob!

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CREAM CHEESE RHUBARB PIE
1- 9-inch unbaked pie shell
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 c. sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 c. warm (not hot) water
3 c. sliced fresh rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)

Topping:
1 – 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. sugar
whipped cream
sliced almonds

In a saucepan, combine cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add water; stir until thoroughly combined. Add rhubarb. Cook, over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens, about 6-8 minutes. Pour into pie shell; bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, for topping, beat cream cheese, eggs and sugar until smooth. Pour over pie. Return to oven; reduce heat to 325 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes or until set. Cool. Chill several hours or overnight. When ready to serve, garnish with whipped cream or whipped topping and couple of almonds perched on top of whipped cream. Makes 8 servings.

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RHUBARB CRUMB TART
Crust:
1 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
3 T. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
4 t. milk

Filling:
3 c. diced, fresh rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)
1 - 3 oz. pkg. strawberry-flavored gelatin

Crumble Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. butter or margarine
whipped cream or whipped topping, optional

For crust, mix first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and milk; stir until a ball forms. Pat into a greased 7x11 or 9x9-inch baking pan. Put rhubarb on crust. Sprinkle gelatin over rhubarb. In a small bowl, mix topping ingredients together until crumbly. Sprinkle over rhubarb mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool until firm.  When ready to serve, top with whipped cream if you wish. Makes 12 servings.

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NUTTY RHUBARB MUFFINS
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/3 c. canola or vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 t. each, baking soda and salt
1 c. diced fresh rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)
1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

In a small mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients; mix well. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add egg mixture; stir just until smooth. Fold in rhubarb and nuts. Spoon batter into 12 greased or paper lined muffin cups. In a small bowl, mix together topping ingredients; sprinkle over tops of muffins. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins test done.  Makes 1 dozen.  Note:  When stirring batter for muffins don’t over stir as the muffins will peak.

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RHUBARB 
BLUEBERRY JAM
5 c. sliced fresh rhubarb (1/4-inch pieces)
1 c. water
5 c. sugar
1 - 21 oz. can blueberry pie filling
1 - 6 oz. pkg. raspberry-flavored gelatin

In a large kettle, combine rhubarb and water. Cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender. (Don’t cook it until the rhubarb pieces fall apart.) Add sugar and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Stir in pie filling. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Stir in gelatin, mixing well.
Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/4 –inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes about 8 half-pints.  
Note:  Years past canning jars, lids and screw caps were heated in a kettle of very hot water for a few minutes. water was drained from the jars of course. The jars were hot and ready to add whatever you were canning.  For a number of years I have heated jars in the  microwave until hot, removing them just before adding whatever you were canning. Lids and screw caps are put in a small pan of boiling water before screwing them onto jars.

Thought for the Day: You cannot teach children to take care of themselves unless you let them try. They will make mistakes; and out of these mistakes comes wisdom.

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