Rhubarb Pie

Avid listeners of the Prairie Home Companion know about the fake commercials - the one for ketchup, the one for powder milk biscuits, and the one for rhubarb pie. I like the one for ketchup, and I really love the one for powder milk biscuits - it is great bluegrass, but I hate the one for rhubarb pie. It's to the tune of "Shortnin' Bread" and to me, that song is better left to be sung by someone sounds like Mammy, not Garrison Keillor and Sue Scott. It's a guarantee channel changer for me.

And that's ironic, because rhubarb pie is my absolute favorite pie in the whole world. Today I baked two...one for me and one for my friend Alison's mom. Alison and her mom have never had rhubarb pie...it is one of those pies that no one eats anymore, like mincemeat pies. I hope they like it! Rhubarb is tangy, like a good apple pie, but it also tastes like springtime to me. Rhubarb is a very hardy plant and is cultivated in China as a medicinal. It is said that some of the best rhubarb can be found in Michigan. Kim at the Farmer's Marketer wrote a great post about the history of rhubarb in Michigan.

Here's my recipe for rhubarb pie. Make it with a lattice top, because for some reason, that is what rhubarb pies always have. If you are pie crust phobic, a lattice top is very forgiving. All you need to do is cut your top crust into slices, and lay a row of slices on top of your pie. My favorite trick is to lay the center cross lattice first, weaving over and under. Then place the outboard cross lattices from that center stripe, weaving them opposite of the one next to it.

Rhubarb Pie
6-8 stalks rhubarb, cut into one inch pieces
1 c. sugar
1/4 flour

One double pie crust recipe - I like my Old Reliable Pie Crust

Roll out the bottom crust. Mix the rhubarb with the sugar and flour and put in the pan on the crust and top with a lattice. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes.