This week has reminded me of the book
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Except, in my case, it's,
If You Give a Lauren Some Rhubarb.
It all started when Bryan suggested a geocaching adventure on Sunday. Here'a a memorable shot from our day.
(we didn't ever find this cache...it was tucked away down this prairie trail near this museum and Bryan kept saying, "This is weird. I feel uncomfortable." So we gave up and went to DQ instead.)
One of the caches was located on a local farm - and not just any farm. It's the largest herb farm in ND. http://www.gardendwellersfarm.com/
We happened to be there on rhubarb harvest day so we decided to get some. I had no idea how much to get and was told there's about 5 cups in a pie. So I decided to get enough for two pies.
After cutting, blanching, and freezing, I ended up with 14 cups.
Note: after performing this process, I was told by my mom that you don't really have to blanch rhubarb. Noted.
So, I couldn't just let that rhubarb sit in the freezer for 8-10 months. I had to do something with it.
That lead me to buy all the supplies for cannning because I was going to make rhubarb jam.
I forgot to buy one thing though: a BIG pot for the jam to boil in for 15 minutes.
So I watched helplessly as purple goop splattered....
...all over.
My attempts to stir the jam only made it splatter more, burn my hand, and cause the large purple goo splots on the stove.
Fast forward about 30 minutes from this stage and I have a legion of nice jam jars on the counter. Very satisfying.
But, that wasn't quite enough for me. What's homemade jam without homemade buns? So I made my first ever batch of buns.
And I don't remember how the Mouse was satisfied in the book, but for me, I was satisfied when I got to eat a warm bun with jam on it. I was also satisfied to eat it sitting down because my legs were sore from standing in the kitchen all day.
