I'm Obsessed

with rhubarb.

I thought popsicles were the perfect pregnancy food, and they are still a close second, but then I made Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. Granted, the popsicle people are on my side with the rhubarb addiction. Sara Newberry, of Cold Ones in Austin (follow them here on twitter. They're also on facebook) told me a few weeks ago that she had been brainstorming a rosewater-rhubarb popsicle, which instantly made my knees weak and hating that she was in Austin while I was in Brooklyn. People's Pops at the Brooklyn Flea had a Rhubarb hibiscus popsicle, which my son and husband loved, but I have to say it wasn't my favorite flavor of the People's Pops inventory, though I've loved everything else of theirs. I found it too herb-y. My favorites of theirs tend to be the berry variety flavors.

But then after the Strawberry-Rhubarb pie, I think I might just have to take Strawberry-Rhubarb pie filling and shove it into a popsicle mold. Except rhubarb requires knowing and understanding and cooking in some way so that it doesn't end up too tart, and while I can make a pie, I've never actually made pie filling without the actual pie.

I've spent a bit of time thinking about this as with Strawberry-Rhubarb pie being the perfect pregnancy food, I've realized I might need to make a S-R pie every week this summer. Except the week I give birth when I'll be in bed in my pajamas with my lovely newborn, at which point, I'll need to fall back on the popsicle for my nutritional needs, and I may need to do some experimenting to fully master the Strawberry-Rhubarb popsicle.
 

The rhubarb at the market is so pretty, even when I had a pie at home, I couldn't help myself but get another pound and a half. I rationalized thinking, "Maybe I'll make jam?" (uh-huh, because that's fun to stand in front of a stove stirring cooking fruit and then sealing all the jars in between chasing a toddler and trying to transcend the New York mugginess that has descended).

Then we were invited to a friend's barbecue on Monday. What to bring? Pie.

Whenever you show up at a someone's house with pie, you get instant huge karmic payoff.

Unless you forget the ice cream to go with it.



*For the record, I used the Strawberry-Rhubarb pie recipe here with some changes. I scraped the pie dough recipe part, because I'm a dedicated James McNair fan as his pie crust has never failed me (3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar. Blend for a second in the food processor. Add two cold sticks of unsalted butter - I always cut them into small pieces before adding. Blend until bread crumb consistency, then add 1/2 cup of cold/ice water. Chill in two batches wrapped in wax or parchment paper before rolling out the top and bottom of the pie.) For the pie, I had way more rhubarb than 2 1/2 cups - I had closer to 5 cups, but I still threw it all in. I'd cut the sugar to 1 1/4 cups or 1 1/3 cups as mine was a tad too sweet. By far the best pie I've ever made. Yum!