Tastes of Spring

Friday, May 18, 2012
Cinnamon Rhubarb Muffins
Andy's mom gifted us with some rhubarb from her patch on Tuesday and it ended up being the exact right amount for a batch of muffins. (Yes, I'm kitchen nerd who whipped out her food scale and weighed it.) I whipped up the muffins on Wednesday and oh yum, did they ever taste of springtime. It just isn't springtime until you've gotten a mouthful of tangy, sweet/tart rhubarb.

I used the cinnamon-rhubarb muffin recipe from Fine Cooking. I didn't have any sour cream on hand, so I substituted yogurt. The substitution didn't make the muffins any less luscious, but then I'm not really sure a muffin recipe that makes 12 muffins and calls for an entire stick of butter can be anything but luscious. If you're interested, you can find the recipe here.

I'm hoping to scare up some more rhubarb before the season's done. I'd like to make a batch or two of rhubarb sauce, which is the best served warm over vanilla ice cream, but is also not half bad over yogurt or oatmeal if you're feeling particularly wholesome. I wouldn't turn down a rhubarb custard pie either. . .

Our rhubarb plants have been experiencing growth spurts this week, so there may be hope yet that we'll be producing some of our rhubarb supply this year.

While I got my taste of spring, someone else was in the backyard, scrounging up their own taste of spring. There's been a bear about for the last couple weeks, but while he/she (okay, I've decided it's a "him") has made visits at most of the neighbors' places and have left numerous piles of scat in the road, our place has been ignored. That is, until last night when Mr. Bear decided to have a tumble with our compost pile.
Andy surveys the damage
Andy spent a good portion of the weekend raking up leaves from the perennial beds, so the bin was pretty filled with brown material, while green material, like kitchen scraps, was buried. Mr. Bear must not have liked what he found because he appears to have simply tipped over the bin and gone on his merry way. After righting the bin, Andy got the spilled compost back in the bin in just three handfuls.

I don't want to gloat, but I have a feeling my taste of spring was much tastier than Mr. Bear's.

 

14 comments:

  1. These look yummy! Another idea for me to use my abundant and gigantic rhubarb! I find that the rhubarb does better if you dig it up and divide it every three or four years. No bears in our compost yet, though there have been some in the suburbs. It never seems to end well for the bear though.

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  2. I agree with you on the rhubarb sauce. Love it and it's best served warm over vanilla ice cream. I had it like three times this week. We're also trying to establish a rhubarb patch, unsuccessfully for three years. My florist/gardener sister told me I need to fertilize the plants.

    Good luck with keeping the bear at bay.

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  3. Oh those look delish!

    Hopping by from the Friday Hop! Come check us out: www.sweepstakesmama.com

    Candy the Skeptical Sweeper representing:
    Sweepstakes Mama

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  4. Please to be sending me several of above mentioned muffins.

    Regards,

    pregnant lady

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  5. I'm not sure I've ever really had rhubarb. Scandalous, I know!

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  6. Me either! Never had it before. Don't know anything about how to cook it. The muffins look good!

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  7. Oh, I so much lvoe rhubarb and actually just prepared a recipe for the blog. Should be up MOnday. Great minds think alike!

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  8. Hi following from the Aloha Friday Blog Hop! I have only had rhubarb once in my life and that was at my grandmas house, the neighbor had made rhubarb jelly and given us a jar. It was delicious! I love gardening and have found more time recently for vegetables, but I live in Hawaii, do you think rhubarb can grow here?

    P.S. I'm from Alaska and it's not often I come across other peoples' bear issues :P made me home sick :)

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  9. Oh yummy! I'm a new follower to your fun blog from the Aloha Blog Hop!

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  10. Those cinnamon rhubarb muffins look tasty!! I've never seen a bear before. I'd be so terrified if I ever encountered one!

    New follower from my Aloha Friday Blog Hop! Thank you for joining the hop!

    I followed you on all the sites you have on your page.

    Please follow me back if you have time!!

    www.whatjeanlikes.com

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  11. I have never tasted rhubarb anything....seems like i am missing something!!

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  12. Oh my gosh! Just reading this has me on a hunt for muffins.... alas, mine will be of the blueberry variety. Still, quite delicious!

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  13. I don't think I've ever had rhubarb. Sounds yummo though, might have to check it out. And I love how non-chalant you are about a BEAR being in your backyard. I get scared from the lizard that lives out front, lol.

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  14. Ada, those muffins look perfectly scrumptious! Good call on the yogurt substitution.

    Hope that's the extent of your run-ins with bears this season!

    Jenn

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