Week in Review: Uneventful except for a lot of subbing, and it is foolhardy to sub this late in the school year, even if you go into the trenches armed with Popsicles. But ta-da! It's Rhubarb Week, and the squirrel gets into the festivities with a stalk of the delicious pie plant. "Oh rhubarb, it doesn't take much to make you sing!" (just a bunch of sugar).



Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog, proudly sports......okay, not proudly. The hairy arm in the background indicates that she is sporting this "Hail to Rhubarb" hat against her will. Bob promised her two treats if she would cooperate, but then he said he wasn't pleased with her attitude and only gave her one. I bet she's plotting revenge, even as I type.



In 2700 BC China, rhubarb was cultivated for medicinal purposes. (it's a powerful laxative) Hmmmm


The sodium oxalate found in rhubarb can chemically break down chlorofluorocarbons that are eroding the earth's ozone into four harmless compounds or elements - sodium chloride, sodium fluoride, carbon and carbon dioxide. Hmmmm.

Rhubarb leaves and roots are poisonous. The stems are not. Hmmmm








Even these chickens are getting in on the rhubarb fun.





For Christmas, I gave Bob a gift certificate to the lumber yard, and this weekend, he cashed it in and began working on his shed. It'll even have a small attic, in which to store duck and goose decoys. While I was taking this picture, Bob was explaining to me just how he was going to do something or other. I listened attentively.




From the Archives: Since this coming Friday is the anniversary of one of the two best days in my life, Lindsey's 25th birthday, I thought I should post a picture of her. On Rob's birthday in January, I put up a picture of him with a salmon. Well, here's Lindsey with her fish. She's about three and a half.



Recipes of the Week: Are rhubarb recipes, of course. There's nothing like rhubarb pie, and this one was delicious. I also made a rhubarb cake using my mom's recipe. This is one of those cakes that gets moister and better-tasting with time. For the pie, as always, start with Opie's No-Fail Pie Dough recipe.


Rhubarb Pie
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 3/4 cups sugar
6 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Combine rhubarb, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. put into pie crust and dot the top with the butter. Bake for 10 minutes at about 400 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake another 50 minutes or so. You might even want to use a little more sugar than this recipe calls for. I did.



Rhubarb Cake

Cream together:
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Add:
1 egg
Sift together:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add alternately with flour mix:
1 cup buttermilk

Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 and 1/2 cups diced rhubarb

Sprinkle topping on cake before baking:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes



" I hope some animal never bores holes in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later, you might think you're having a good idea, but it's just the eggs hatching."
Jack Handey