Over the weekend, Tai & I drove up to Franklin, ME to visit family, namely, Tai’s grandmother, aunt & uncle.  They live in a beautiful spot, along the water in Hog Bay in two houses separated by a grassy field, Louisa’s gardens, Charlie’s pottery studio, and a whole lot of rhubarb plants.

Tai’s Uncle Charlie is a potter and his Aunt Sue is a weaver; their work is quite gorgeous and can be seen on the Hog Bay website, not to mention in the background of many pictures on this site.  Check out their website to buy some pottery, if you are so inclined, or it’s sometimes easiest to call them as Internet reception comes and goes up in the wilds of Downeast Maine.  Since every time we are up there I want to bring the entire studio shop home with me, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find something you like! 

A Hog Bay platter and early wedding gift from Grandma.

Sue spins and dyes her own yarn from the wool of local Maine sheep and plant-based dyes that she makes herself from the plants in her garden.  We always have great conversations about cooking, eating locally and living sustainably; Sue mentioned she was looking for rhubarb recipes due to the huge rhubard crop growing in the yard, and then proceeded to load us up with 9 pounds of fresh rhubarb to take home! 

Most cooks know that rhubarb and strawberries are a natural pair, and the Internets abound with recipes for rhubarb-strawberry pie, jam, and crumble.  But I’ve got 9 lbs of rhubarb in the fridge now, and strawberries won’t show their perky red heads for at least 3 more weeks.  So I spent some time Googling and came up with a list of recipes, savory & sweet, to try until strawberries make an appearance. Also, Tai makes a great ginger-rhubarb jam every year, and I have plans for a rhubarb chutney and maybe a rhubarb-balsamic savory glaze for chicken.  Clearly, I must get me to the kitchen!  Stay tuned for recipes that worked – or those that didn’t – and in the meantime, if you have a favorite rhubarb recipe, please let me know in comments!

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Rhubarb Galore

• Harvest and Store Rhubarb  from Neighbor Nancy at Recession Depression Therapy
• Sweet and Sour Rhubarb Sauce from the 101 Cookbooks forum
• Red-wine Poached Rhubarb from David Lebovitz via Susam Loomis
• Rhubarb Sorbet courtesy of Garrett McCord via Simply Recipes
• Rhubarb Coffee Crumb Cake from Smitten Kitchen
• Rhubarb Tart from The Kitchen Sink