Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb...

This weekend as the little shoots of rhubarb poked through the thawing earth,  I couldn’t help but singing Garrison Keillor’s little ditty.

I also couldn’t help but think of rhubarb compote over fresh goat milk yogurt and, of course,  strawberry rhubarb pie (we’ll present both recipes as soon as the crop is ready to harvest).

You can tell the difference between rhubarb grown in a greenhouse and that which is field grown.  The latter has stalks that are a much darker red, almost maroon.

Cooking will turn the rhubarb brown, but this can be prevented by adding a cooked beet to the pot.  Don’t use aluminum or cast iron saucepans when cooking the rhubarb as the vegetable’s  acid will turn both the pot and the rhubarb black.