Bake 52: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Valerie was our host this week and chose the recipe.  There was trouble finding the rhubarb for some but luckily, I didn't have that problem.  It might be that we live in a community with a lot of vegetarians and our produce sections are more extensive because of it.  Or maybe it was just luck.  

I have never cooked with rhubarb before and I didn't really know what to do with it.  I was supposed to peel it so I got out a peeler but that didn't really work.  I wondered how you were supposed to peel the darn things.  I was surprised to find the texture to be much like celery and actually very simple to peel.  I didn't want to make a whole pie for just us and Valerie insisted I make some with apple substituted for the rhubarb so I decided to make individual pies.  Instead of using the mini-muffin tins like I did for the quiche, I used the regular muffin tins for the rhubarb pies.

By the time I got to the apple version, it was eleven o'clock at night and I was sick of weaving lattice for mini-pies (and I only did 5 of those) so I just cut out 5-6 inch circles of dough, put some filling inside and folded it over.  They looked kind of like those little hostess pies, so I added a glaze to complete the package.  

I tasted the rhubarb pies when they were hot out of the oven last night and they were delicious.  I did add some extra cornstarch since everyone had been saying their filling was more juicy than expected.  Tyler took them to class this morning with him and I told him I needed reviews for the blog.  This was our Facebook chat this morning:

Today

here are a few quotes from the pies

This is unbelievalbe

She has done it agian. Taylor

There is something a little extra in that crust, a little bit of magic. mark

what did you think?

I didn't get one. I have more than 5 friends so not everyone got one.

Brock says "unbelievable"

What? You have more than 5 friends?

I know I was surprised.

9:29am

this sounds fishy. they know that they don't have to say they are good right?

not everyone could have liked them. some people don't like rhubarb

true story

dude, they were all blown away. No lie

 I wish he had taken the apple version with him too because I ended up eating way too many of them.  And I don't even like pie.  I did like the rhubarb better which surprised me.  The apple had a little less flavor but I think my kids would have preferred it because it was less tart (if they had been able to taste the rhubarb).

 I had intentions of using the pie crust recipe in the book because I wanted to try it.  However, looking at the recipe, I realized I needed sour cream which I didn't have.  And I had already been to the store twice for this pie and it was one of those days where I just ran around like a chicken with my head cut off and accomplished practically nothing.  And I didn't want to run around anymore.  In short, I used the pie crust I always use and love.  Maybe next time.  (I think I said that when we made quiche too, oops.)

If you'd like the recipe, you can check out Valerie's blog HERE.

Chat Conversation End