Skip to main content

R is for Rhubarb.....

A favorite of pie lovers near and far, rhubarb is another one of those "edible" plants with "inedible" parts. For this tart and tangy vegetable, it's the leaves that are harmful.

One must be cautious when cooking with this versatile stalk. The entire plant contains oxalic acid in varying degrees, but it is in the leaves that the poison is most concentrated. Consume enough of the leafy material, or cook enough of the leaves in with your stalk and you risk some pretty nasty gastrointestinal symptoms. Consume too much and the dose is lethal.


Rhubarb Delight

Kiss the red stalk gently, 
with sweetness and light.
Stew with fruit quietly,
make tart rhubarb delight.

                                                                                 --- e.a.s. demers


Labels:

Comments

  1. soggy in the cornerApril 22, 2012 at 7:26 AM

    My Aunt used to make raspberry rhubarb pie. I always found it strange that part of a plant could be toxic and the other part okay to eat. We used to eat the stems of wood sorrell in the woods, but the neighbors mother warned us not to eat too much. She was a nurse and I think it was the oxalic acid she was worried about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. e.a.s. demersApril 29, 2012 at 6:46 PM

      I've actually never had rhubarb pie at all... but, I agree that it's strange that one part of the plant is okay to eat while another part is toxic...

      Delete
  2. @amiApril 23, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    I love strawberry rhubarb pie. I haven't had it in ages though.

    {ami}
    http://sundrysumthins.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. e.a.s. demersApril 29, 2012 at 6:49 PM

      I've always wanted to try rhubarb pie, I have friends who love it, but, it wasn't part of our repertoire.

      Delete
  3. SharkbytesApril 24, 2012 at 7:43 AM

    Quite possibly my favorite pie! I'm trying to visit all the A-Z Challenge Blogs in April. My alphabet is at myqualityday.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Share your thoughts!

Popular posts from this blog

A-Z Reflections, year 4....

A-Z blogging challenge for 2014 has come and gone, seemingly without my realizing it. And, though I fell behind once or twice toward the end, I finished this year's challenge right on time. Really, I can't believe it's already over. I feel like I just finished my post for letter A... Year 4, for this blogger, was a far cry from the tortured state of despondency that was most of  Year 3 -- I'll not mention the irony of this year's focus on death being easier to blog about than last year's foray into supernatural creatures, we'll leave that for my therapy sessions *ahem* As always, A-Z brought with it, not only 26 days of unbridled and far-reaching knowledge (disguised as entertaining and thought-provoking blog-posts), but a chance to connect with new faces while reconnecting with familiar faces--who had perhaps drifted away--from A-Z's past.  I am always amazed by the ingenuity and inspiration that comes from lumping a couple thousand folk...
12 comments
Read more

Bitter Honey

Weaving dreams of beguiling gold, a future's price for happiness. What secrets do you, determined, hold? asks the summer wind's soft caress. A guarded name, a hidden hope. Spinning wheels clutching time, grasping straw that falls away, What dreams may come, we soon may find, won't recall at end of day. A cherished life, a memory lost.
18 comments
Read more

Battle Storm...

Storm's coming, war's brewing, rolling clouds choke the light, Cannon's rumble, bodies tumble, exploding stars steal the night. The heavens clap, the battle's snap, sinking deep the wounded fall, The lightning's spark, the thunder's hawk, drinking in the warring pall. Soldiers crawl, the ranks sprawl, beneath the wall of death, Eyes clenched tight, in teeth-bared fight, bequeathed their final breath.
18 comments
Read more