Strwaberry Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb is such an easy plant to grow.  It can tolerate full sun or partial shade, and I have 2 plants, one in the back garden and one I snuck in my flower bed in the front yard .  
This one above gets about 6 hours of sun a day,  I don't do anything to it but toss a heap of compost on top of it in the spring. I do notice that if I am not careful the bottom leaves start to get mushy from being wet and on the ground.  My boys look under the Rhubarb first when they are hunting for slugs to put in  their slug house.  Yes, I did say slug house.  My kids think slugs are terrific and keep them as pet during the summer.  If I go so far as to remove a slug from a plant and bring it the back alley (where it is very dry most of the time and slugs probably wont survive) my kids scream and run to it's rescue.  Hence the slug house.

  
 Here is the Rhubarb in my front yard,  There is broccoli as well, and not too noticeable from the street.  The Rhubarb doesn't look too great up here, I'm not sure why,
Yesterday was time to make make my favorite, strawberry rhubarb pie. I gathered the supplies,

 I bought these organic strawberries at the store the day before and awoke to find most of them mush.  I called Whole Foods who said they would be happy to refund my money, but between grocery shopping, gardening, pets and kids, I had no time, so I forged ahead,


To pick rhubarb you gently twist the stalk close to the base of the plant,

Although I love the look of ruby red stalks, but my plant is mixed red and green.  There varieties that are all green, the green taste a little more tangy, which I love.  The green is also heartier.  I would make just a plain rhubarb pie, but unfortunately, the mostly green stalks don't look very palatable when cooked alone.

 I used Martha Stewart's recipe.  Her Pate Brisee (http://www.marthastewart.com/284104/pate-brisee) is hands down my favorite pie dough recipe and it is pretty easy. I am not a perfectionist (as you might have gleaned from my photos) so this may be a bit sloppy but it tastes wonderful!  Served warm with vanilla ice cream, yummm.