Rhubarb x2

Last summer we moved in to our house and everything in our garden was pretty much all ready to go for us. The previous homeowners were completely into landscaping and gardening and we couldn't really claim much of it's success or beauty as our accomplishments. However, this year is a little bit different story. This time we can claim it as ours because we had to make sure the plants SURVIVED us cutting them back and making it through winter. :) Three cheers hooray because (most) of it did!

Of all the things I was concerned about, the rhurbarb was definitely not one of them. I've never really been a rhurbarb fan and I wasn't going to be crushed if it didn't come in. (Plus we've been kinda worried about Gable being around it with the leaves being poisonous and all.) My first adventure with rhubarb was last summer and was highlighted in my first blog post ever. Looking back that strawberry rhubarb crisp was good but my adventures with rhubarb this summer have both been better!

Both recipes I used this summer I found using google. :) I just googled "strawberry rhubarb" and then clicked on images. I searched the images until I found a good one and then followed the image back to a website/blog with the recipe. Ahhh - the power and convenience of google.

I first made a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble for Matt and I because look how delicious this picture is!

From Carlo at your Service

I tried to take a pic of my own crumble with ice cream but food photography definitley isn't my thing. But good news was that my crumble tasted just as delicious as this picture. :) Here's the recipe that I used:

 http://blog.carloatyourservice.com/2009/10/strawberry-rhubarb-crumble.html

I thought one rhubarb dessert a week/month/summer would be good enough for me but when Memorial Day rolled around and I was in charge of bringing a dessert I decided to go back to the rhubarb and try something else. This time I choose an image of Strawberry Rhubarb Bars.

From Land 'o Lakes

You can find the recipe here or I've also included it below since this time I did a much better job at documenting the process with pictures.

Strawberry Rhubarb Bars

Filling
2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Drizzle
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Combine rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice in 2-quart saucepan. Cover; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender (8 to 12 minutes).

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in small bowl. Stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil (about 1 minute). Continue boiling until thickened (1 minute). Remove from heat. Set aside.

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crust ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.

Combine all drizzle ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle over cooled bars. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Rhubarb from the garden

Strawberries, rhubarb and lemon juice

Close up

Bottom layer

Strawberry/Rhubarb layer

Top layer

Yumm!