Rhubarb Rocks!

Hot rhubarb goodness steaming through ;)

The good weather has everyone in higher spirits than normal, so coming home on a Monday evening you feel like doing a bit extra ;) So No. 1 gardener was out doing heavier jobs while I took to the baking again. Y'see, the banana bread did disappear - great with natural yogurt by the way - so I wanted to test the same recipe with rhubarb. And so, I simply substituted the mashed bananas with 1lb of finely chopped, thin and very red stalked rhubarb. I also added the zest of an orange for the craic...the pictures tell the story, but the proof as always is in the tasting ;) Don't wait for me to send you a slice, just do it!

The story unfolding..

The rhubarb this year has possibly been over performing for us - we've harvested at least 10kg from our three humble plants that began as lonely stalks 18 months ago. Another gift from the Cappaduff folks, so they came from good stock. After potting up about about 30 lbs of jam, we were glad to try something different. Freezing is also a great option if you can't keep up with the growing, and makes for a welcome store in darker times. Someone said to me recently that rhubarb is one of the easiest things that you can grow - based on our experience I'd have to agree. It's not to everyone's taste, but as with all gifts from the garden - pass it on to someone whose taste it is. 

And so, enjoy the sunshine ;) In this house right now I'm currently being treated to the aroma of simmering, scrumptious tomato sauce packed with fresh basil straight from the Holly Cottage garden....summer ain't over yet!