The other day, I was shocked when a friend of ours indicated that they did not like rhubarb pie. My initial response was to holler “heresy” which was probably not really appropriate. However, in the Evans family rhubarb pie is way up there in the scheme of things. The Blonde in the house makes a superb pie which is 100 percent rhubarb and not the strawberry/rhubarb pie that the uninformed eat. Actually, there is nothing wrong with the latter pie, it’s just that it does not reach the taste levels of the straight rhubarb pie.
I wondered for a long time how to explain in simple terms the difference between rhubarb pie and strawberry/rhubarb pie. A recent occurrence right here in The Villages reminded me of a definition I made when I was still working as a County Administrator. There has been quite a bit of controversy about the recent county budget here which rose significantly due to the need for capital improvements especially in road and other infrastructure needs. The reason this reminded me of explaining the difference between the two pies follows:
In other words I developed an analogy that could be compared to local government developments. Not to keep you waiting, I will now proceed with a clear, definable and easily understood explanation. That is a real rhubarb pie can be compared to paving 10 miles of dirt roads while a strawberry/rhubarb pie is merely mowing a couple of drainage ditches. The foregoing is perhaps not the most picturesque definition, but it rings true and that is what counts. My only lasting regret is that there are many, many folks out there who have never had an actual rhubarb pie made like The Blonde prepares with a genuine homemade crust. My heart bleeds for those unfortunates!
Of course, there are many things that The Blonde makes that lots of folks are not privy to their unmatched quality. One of them is her homemade biscuits which are so good that that kids and grandkids try to duplicate them. Our oldest son tries his best to match his mother’s. Not only that but his youngest son brought out his computer when they were visiting us one time and took down every nuance of his grandmother’s preparation in biscuit making. He then vowed that he would make some himself. Actually, I don’t think he has, but his younger cousin (son of our youngest son) did. We even have photos of his making them, and his parents declared them quite good, particularly as he made them between his active sports schedule.
The Blonde is not secretive about her recipes. The biscuit recipe in particular has been handed out many times. We even have a nearby neighbor who wanted to match what my good wife had done, but it took her several years before she ventured to make them. (I did send her photos of our grandson making them as an incentive.) Thereupon she did make them – once! Despite rumors, her husband did not use one of them on the 7th hole at Glenview – and reached the green. At least his golfing companions made a sworn statement to that effect.
If you can’t believe a sworn statement what can you believe these days?
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com.
