Rhubarb

When I was a child I hated rhubarb season. Mom was a big dessert person and made them often, but in late spring, once her rhubarb was ready to harvest, the desserts all began to have one common denominator: rhubarb. I ate them grudgingly but always secretly couldn't wait until the rhubarb was all gone and we could get back to non-rhubarb desserts.

I don't know when it happened, but sometime in the past few years I started craving rhubarb desserts. Last year I finally bit the bullet and planted some rhubarb plants in our yard, but I can't harvest any until next year (and even then only sparingly). Well, wonder of wonders, Dad brought up a huge grocery bag of rhubarb yesterday full of freshly picked rhubarb that he was given by a friend.

Right now I have this cooling on my prep table:




It's rhubarb oatmeal pie and I can't wait to dig into it. In a few minutes I'm going to start a rhubarb compote which was, funnily enough, my absolute least favorite, most dreaded rhubarb concoction that Mom made every spring. Funny how time and maturity can change your taste buds.