Anyone who has raised a garden or grew up in a family that had one knows that nothing beats fresh veggies. The same be true of fruit. Picking an apple off a tree or raspberries from the canes and then eating them are one of life’s true pleasures. Now I know that not everyone can be as lucky as we …
It’s not too late to pick some rhubarb for your next dessert or to freeze some to get you through the long winter. I’ve been doing a little of both the past couple of weeks. I’ve vacuum sealed and frozen several 4-cup bags of the “pie plant” as it has come to be known in the U.S. as well as …
Anyone who thinks rhubarb is a garden nuisance has never attended a rhubarb festival, where you can sample many different kinds of desserts, most of them quite tasty, that feature the “pie plant.” I’ve had the chance over the years to take in the annual rhubarb festival sponsored by University Lutheran Church in Grand Forks. In fact, I was asked …
The thought of homemade pie conjures up warm memories of good times past for many people who grew up on farms or in the small towns that dot a map of the Plains and Midwest. During the summer, I could usually count on finding a pie, often rhubarb, on the counter at our house or Grandma and Grandpa Menard’s almost every …
Most cooks have a handful of go-to recipes — the ones that you know will be a hit with whomever you are serving. I don’t have to think too hard to come up with mine, which include a couple of main courses, a sandwich, an appetizer and a dessert. My baked pheasant with wild rice dressing probably tops the list, followed closely by my …
When I moved back to North Dakota in 2005, I determined to plant a vegetable garden. I moved back to the Great Plains just in case the world collapsed and when it did, I wanted to be near farm country — where I could, like “The Martian,” grow just enough potatoes to survive. The moment I got all the boxes …
It seems people who love rhubarb just can’t get enough recipes that feature the pie plant. That’s especially so if you grew up eating tasty rhubarb desserts straight out of your mother’s oven. I was reminded of that today by Becky Leguee Siani, whose older brother, Rory, was a good childhood friend of mine, and her sister, Eileen, a grade school classmate, …
It’s the beginning of June, and to a lot of people in the Northland, that means it’s the beginning of lake season. But for the folks at University Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, it’s time for rhubarb. More specifically, the church’s annual Rhubarb Festival. The church, located at 2122 University Ave., will be a beehive of activity from 10 a.m. …
Rhubarb is very likely the first vegetable — yes, it’s not a fruit — harvested in the spring by gardeners. It perhaps is also the most-awaited one by cooks who prefer making desserts above all else. Fresh rhubarb from the garden is still weeks away from being harvested, but that’s not stopping me from pleasuring my sweet tooth. That’s because I had …
Even though plants may look ripe for picking in August, most gardeners say you shouldn’t harvest rhubarb after the Fourth of July. That is good advice, since rhubarb becomes coarse and woody and loses its flavor later in the summer. And continued harvest through the summer months weakens the rhubarb plants and reduces the yield and quality of next year’s crop. But if …
No Midwest garden would be complete without a rhubarb patch. Add to that a nice bed of strawberries, and you have the makings for some wonderful desserts. We are fortunate enough to have both. A stand of rhubarb was growing next to the garage when Therese bought our house about 25 years ago. And four years ago, I bought a bunch …
Cooks who are worth their salt know there are some recipes that just can’t be beaten. A lot of those recipes are ones that are passed down generation to generation. I have some of those recipes. For example, I still make stuffing the way my mom and grandma used make it. The baked oyster dressing I fix during the holidays is one that …
Rhubarb recipes are a dime a dozen, especially if you live in North Dakota or Minnesota, where this perennial vegetable is abundant and church funeral and wedding luncheons are never lacking for desserts made with it. Yes, rhubarb is a vegetable, which doesn’t seem right, since it’s mostly associated with sweet things. (If you’ve ever been to the annual spring Rhubarb …
Nothing makes me think of spring more than rhubarb. So, when I come across some of it in the freezer during the dead of winter, my heart soars. Actually, we’re less than a month away from the official first day of spring. And even though those of us who’ve lived in the Northland all of our lives know that we …