watercolor via courtney khail
beautiful photo via kim taylor
Full disclosure here- just this last Thanksgiving I can quote my parents on saying that rhubarb shouldn't exist (they both really don't like it.) So it should come as no surprise that I'd never even tried it before now. I thought it was pretty, but when it came to actually eating it all I could remember was my parents description of an incredibly tart/sour horrible plant. (I should note that my parents eat just about ANYTHING so I kind of just took their word on this one.) Fast forward from last Thanksgiving to the beginning of the month and I get a note from Kim asking about my feelings on rhubarb.
My feelings? That it's a horrible plant that should never be eaten. But this project is about trying new things so instead of saying that I wrote back, "sounds great! let's do that." and then got to work finding a recipe that sounded good (i.e. had butter and sugar.) Luckily, I stumbled across this recipe, and with a few tweaks (like adding lemon zest and more vanilla) I ended up with some of the best streusel I may have ever tasted. The rhubarbs and strawberries kind of blended together into a "just sweet enough" filling, the lemon made everything pop, and the topping was to die for. Though seriously, melted butter and brown sugar is always going to be a good combination. And while I may not be ready to jump into using rhubarb in everything quite yet, between this recipe and Kim's compote, I'm getting closer. Hope you all enjoy!
Oh! And a note on the watercolor, despite searching for it I couldn't find rhubarb with leaves. Maybe it's because they are poisonous... Because of that, I decided to just paint them how you all would see them in the store- as beautiful red sticks.
And now the recipes!
Mine-
And Kim's- (read here post here)
