Rhubarb Pie - Just like Mom's

When I made my garden rounds this morning, I was happy to see that the spinach, lettuce, onions, and radishes are coming up. The tomato, zucchini, jalapeño and bell pepper plants are looking good, too. There are some big buds on the peony plants and the irises are still in bloom. When I got to the rhubarb plant, I immediately turned back to go inside for my camera and a knife! 

I googled some rhubarb pie recipes and they were just too involved. I saw recipes that called for cinnamon, lemon zest, strawberries, or orange peel. I wanted just a plain old rhubarb pie like my Mom used to make.

So, I went to one of the cookbooks that she used. 

How much more basic can you get than this recipe? Rhubarb, sugar, flour, and butter. That's it. I'm sure this was the recipe she used. I used 4 cups of rhubarb without increasing the amount of the other ingredients and the pie was just the right balance between tart and sweet.

I went with the pastry from this book, too. I had to laugh when I read this in the directions: "The family that serves pie often will do well to keep pastry on hand." Sounds like the woman of the house wasn't easily forgiven if she happened to run out of pastry! I used lard for the fat called for in this recipe (oh, yeah). I'm glad I did... this was the flakiest pastry I've ever made.

Oh, and don't forget to make sugar and cinnamon pinwheels with the leftover dough. They'll only take about 10 minutes in the oven and are a real treat!