Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Food Of The Gods

Lulu and Coaster Punchman frequently post about their love of bacon, and I agree that bacon is crazy delicious, but you know what food is totally underappreciated?

Rhubarb.


Rhubarb is fucking awesome. Seriously, nothing makes a better pie than rhubarb. Not even (gasp) apples and bourbon.

Also, when I was about four or five, my sister and I got in BIG trouble for building a fort in our neighbor's rhubarb patch. The creation of the fort, as you might imagine, required quite a bit of digging and chopping and was a fairly big undertaking for two little girls. It was such a lot of work that we were unable to finish the fort in one day and thus left our tools (buckets and shovels, as I recall) in the rhubarb patch overnight. BIG mistake. Because when the neighbor lady came knocking on our door to yell at my mom and my mom tried to pull the old "how do you know it was MY kids?" defense, the neighbor lady had hard evidence. All my mom could say was, "Oh yeah, I guess those ARE their shovels. Do you want to beat them or should I?"

But anyway, rhubarb. It's really yummy. Just don't try to build a fort out of it. Use Lincoln Logs or something.

11 comments:

Coaster Punchman said...

Yesssssss! Rhubarb is one of my favorite foods. I make pies and crumbles of rhubarb every summer.

And for the record, people who add strawberries to their rhubarb desserts are hacks. If you're too big a wuss to have the sweetened rhubarb alone, get the hell out of my face.

CP
ps: I'd be happiest if everyone started saying "pies of rhubarb" instead of "rhubarb pies."

Phil said...

That might make a good band name, "Pies Of Rhubarb."

Anonymous said...

What does a rhubarb taste like? As a pie connoussieur (???) I am disappointed that I am not familiar with the pie of rhubarbs. I, personally, love me an apple pie.

Maritza said...

I love rhubarb but aren't the leafy green tops poisonous? By the way, what happened to your bro's blog?

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

Thanks for coming by the blog! I've been lurking over on your end for some time. I'm a lover of all things academic and am truly inspired by your take on things as a teacher today. The whole blogging thing is new to me and it seemed silly to comment when I had nothing to offer anyone until now.

I was a vegetarian (lacto/ovo) for over eight years and about three months ago decided to go strictly vegan. Much like becoming a veggie, it was just as though a switch went off in my head and my heart and it's been a snap (tho not nearly convenient as life once was, but I dig that-the time consumption it takes to plan one's diet and be everpresent in one's food selections and creations) ever since.

I never thought I could live without cheese or the ease of cheese/dairy/eggs out in the world. Now that I've educated myself on all the things about the industries that I knew but never really looked into before, I'm that weirdo vegan with the funky food purse-like cooler at every social gathering and large enough purse to sneak in salad dressings and condiments to any restaurant. :) see? totally convenient!

My husband is a carnivore and I wholeheartedly respect everyone's choices, provided that they are thoughtfully made. I know he struggles with his food choices and I so value his support in mine. He mostly eats a vegan diet at home because it's what I'm making and he loves it! Everyone should eat what their body tells them to, there is no one right way. I'm just glad more and more people are eating consciously and not taking for granted the precious gifts the earth has to offer.

boy, can I ramble! :)

Melissa said...

Megan - I see you've made friends with DGMGV - she's one of my best friends - treat her well!

Anonymous said...

I dislike the pies of rhubarb, but I respect your right to eat the pie of your choice.

I do know a particularly tragic true rhubarb story, which I have been planning to work into a short story at some point, but will share with you anyway.

One of my friends grew up in a farming community in Western Iowa. Lke many farm women, his next door neighbor spent a lot of time in the kitchen canning food for the winter. She had a huge kettle of boiling rhubarb on the stove and something happened, I'm not sure what, but in my story I am going with dogs, and the kettle tipped over, covering her in molten rhubarb and killing her. A horrible and probably really really painful way to go, but too good not to use in a story.

I myself like a good pie of lemon meringue.

Anonymous said...

I believe you have overstated the pie-filling abilities of rhubarb. It is not better than apples.

Coaster Punchman said...

Thank you all for getting on the "pies of rhubarb" bandwagon. This pleases me. And Lulu gets extra points for recognizing that the word *rhubarb* is not the only fruit that can be used in the *pies of (insert a fruit here)* paradigm.

CP
ps: Is anyone impressed at how casually I slipped in the word *paradigm*? I'm not even certain I used it correctly, but I don't care.

Anonymous said...

DO I get to collect points and cash them in for fabulous prizes?

Megan said...

CP: What about rhubarb with bacon?

Phil: CP might have that copyrighted.

Noonan: It's tart and delicious. If your b-day wasn't in November (when rhubarb's not in season) I'd make you a b-day pie of rhubarb instead of apples and bourbon.

Maritza: Not sure about the leafy green tops, or about my brother's blog. . .

DGMGV: Oh, so YOU'RE that mysterious reader in Florida! Good for you on the vegan thing, and I'm so glad you're not a preachy vegan.

Melissa: You know I will!

Lulu: Jesus! What a story! And I don't know that I've ever had a pie of lemon meringe.

Grant: Whatever floats your boat, man. An apple pie is yummy in autumn, but just isn't right for mid-July, for example.

CP: We are an accomodating bunch over here. And I think you did use "paradigm" correctly.