rhubarb candy for my sister
diy rhubarb "sour straws" & a return to alaska
Hi everybody. I’m back from my week-long respite to the closer Portland. The Northwest one.
I would, and will, say more soon, but let me rewind a couple of weeks before I get into my attempt at a vacation slideshow, er, trip report and charming tales/photos of mini wedding doughnuts. Galore.
It was a surreal visit. What isn’t these days.
Okay then, going back a bit, I broke out my dehydrator for the first time this year just before my little “vacay”, which coincided with all things MOVING, which consisted of my spouse AMAZINGLY relocating our little crew & goods into a new abode….which I gladly type from in the present tense.
Now, the week prior to all this ridiculous but real packing & moving & traveling, I was garden & greenhouse-sitting for our wonderful (then) next door neighbors, long-time Alaskans who are honest-to-goodness living legends, to put it as casually as can be.
These neighbors - who saved our life the past two long winters more than once - generously gave me the go-ahead to grab a few stalks from one of their rhubarb patches, which of course, I did.
And also of course, rhubarb famously grows prehistorically huge here - midnight sun & all that jazz. It can even grow at ground level! That’s a big deal in the land of (melting…) permafrost.
Right off the bat (stalk) there was one sweet treat I’d made my first summer here that I had recently gotten a cross country request for and was on my mind: “rhubarb candy”.
Is it really a confection? Sure, I’ll give it the homegrown technicality there. There’s melting and sugar. There’s drying and setting. It’s candied fruit. Well, veg.
It’s an easy enough process, that is if you have rhubarb, sugar, something citrus, a dehydrator or oven, and a few hours to be somewhat around to check in on it (as dehydrating usually goes).
I’ve seen similar recipes for “zucchini candy” but, come on. The ZING of rhubarb is the beauty here.
As for the request, it came from my sister in Brooklyn. This is now about her.
I can rarely say “no” to my younger sibling, and it’s downright impossible in her increasingly sunny birthday month of June.
What do you get someone for their birthday who has access to everything in NYC, and can order even more for instantaneous delivery at the touch of her finger tips?
You send something homemade, especially if you’re this particular older sister.
I’ve known my “little” (and only) sister for a long time, which is now even longer after her mid-thirty-something birthday three weeks ago!
She’s a fierce human who’s equal parts stoicism and hilarty. Bodybuilding, beach-going, international business owning + operating = the same little kid who seriously lived in this “Born to be Wild” T-shirt and quietly ordered bowls of whipped cream for dessert.
No one else can quite follow an evening of the very best imported plus Brooklyn rooftop garden-grown ingredients for a Caprese salad & pasta dinner, paired exquisitely alongside Italian natural wine – with a short round of “night chips” - the more covered in hot powdered seasoning the better. However, if she’s feeling sweet, and/or on a road trip, she’s reaching for a silly face on a neon package of sour straws. Hi Jen.
Hence this well-timed experiment in sweetened, dehydrated rhubarb meets those little twists of citric acid, sugar, preservatives, more sugar, corn syrup, the horrors of food coloring and other ingredients you may also not want to eat when you actually think about them sliced thinly for a DIY and far more “natural” nod to sour straws & the like, aka my darling sister’s favorite candy. Love ya, sis.
DIY Rhubarb Berry-Lime “Sour Straw” Candy
makes roughly six servings, adapted from storey.com
Ingredients:
1.5 cups sugar
4 large stalks of rhubarb, sliced into thin spears, curls or small pieces - feel free add more if you can fit it when coating in syrup/can work all this in your dehydrator or baking sheet !
⅓ cup water (a little more as needed)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (or lemon or orange)
handful fresh or frozen blueberries
Directions:
Add the water, citrus juice and sugar to a large saucepan that’s big enough to fit the rhubarb in later. Warm over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Stir in the blueberries, and smash with a spoon a few times to break down a bit.
Drop the rhubarb pieces into the syrup mix, bring to a boil and stir for 1-2 minutes, stirring & tossing the rhubarbs with the syrup to fully coat. Add more rhubarb if you have it and can fit it. Turn off the heat.
Let sit for 1 hour, covered, stirring every now and then.
Add to a dehydrator for a few hours - or an extremely low oven - you’ll sense it’s done once it curls somewhat and almost has a snap.
Let sit for 1 hour in a cool, dry place before storing in well-sealed containers or bags.
Save the leftover syrup for sweetening lemonade, cocktails, mocktails, candying citrus peels….whatever!
NOTE: In my experience, the longer you go, the better it will keep, but you can always store it in the fridge for longer shelf-life.
As private as I may be, I would be remiss not to include the following evidence ↴
Bonus shout-out to our bro. Are you reading this, R?
On the other hand(ful)…
Yadda yadda yadda, more on that adventure another day. It’s near needless to say that I’ve been making jam and freezing berries since my return north. Despite the rain, I’m more than contemplating a haskap mojito this very evening.
Keep those heavy hearts moving forward.
Here’s to care packages. <3
What makes you smile when you open or pack that box?
References + Relevant Links (as of late):
How Alaska Became Home to Humongous Rhubarb, Atlas Obscura July 30, 2019
How the Supreme Court Became the Extreme Court, The Nation July 7, 2022
Moms Demand Action USA - anyone can join!
Reflections, Noodles and Moose Day, these scone archives
Unimaginable Abortion Stories will Become More Common. Is American Journalism Ready? NiemanLab July 13, 2022
What’s Happening with the Vinton Public Library, Iowa Starting Line July 13, 2022
You are an excellent sister, and what a wonderful thought! Rhubarb candy sounds delicious.
There's nothing better than a homemade care package from your sis! Or any care package from someone you love, for that matter. I've never heard of Rhubarb candy, and I'd be requesting to buy some off you if it weren't for Aus' strict (and probably for a reason but I see it as fun police behaviour) bio security laws etc etc! But I'm gonna have to try making it once Rhubarb season is back. As for your neighbours, legends indeed for sharing their garden with you! what gems <3