Rhubarb is in Season!

Rhubarb might be old fashioned, but it is oh-so tasty.  What can you do with it?  Here's a simple, versatile recipe:

Rhubarb Sauce

Wash rhubarb and cut into half-inch pieces.

Put in a pot with about a half cup of water (or apple cider, or orange juice).

Add a few tablespoons of sugar or honey (about 6T per pound of rhubarb, or to taste).

Simmer until soft and thick, stirring frequently.

Serve the sauce with whipped cream, over ice cream, or bake with a crumble topping (such as oats, flour, brown sugar, and cold butter).

And who knew there were so many rhubarb varieties?  I just planted Victoria in my garden, but a 2004 NY Times article elaborates: ''It kills me when I see all these boxes of Washington rhubarb coming in, when we could be growing it here,'' said Steven McKay, a Cornell University agricultural agent focused on specialty crops who has 175 rhubarb plants in his yard in Hudson. ''But the market wants the deep red kind.''  To illustrate, he picked samples of four important varieties: Victoria, long the standard strain, is unacceptably green, he said. The leading variety in New York, MacDonald, is a vigorous, productive strain with large stalks that vary greatly in color, but are typically reddish or speckled pink at the bottom and green at the top. Alluringly dark Valentine thrives in Michigan but in New York has slender stalks that cost too much to pick. The stalks of Tilden are red and fat, but scantier than MacDonald's.

For information on growing rhubarb, check out the Cornell Growing Guide.