My Grandmother's Rhubarb Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

1 3/4 to 2 pounds rhubarb stalks

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Grated zest of one lime (or use lemon)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon aniseed

a few drops of red food coloring

2 tablespoons cold butter

Top and bottom pastry crust from your favorite recipe

1. Prepare the pastry as your recipe directs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Cut rhubarb stalks into 1-inch pieces. You should have about five cups. Combine with sugar, cornstarch, lime zest, and aniseed. Stir well and let sit for half an hour, stirring occasionally.  
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  
4. Line pie plate with bottom crust. Pour rhubarb mixture into plate. Cut the butter into small pieces and dot the fruit. Top with top crust, crimp the edges well, and cut steam vents. Brush crust with a little milk so it browns nicely. Sprinkle with sugar to make it pretty.  
5. Bake for 30 minutes. Slip a baking sheet underneath, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue to bake 25 to 35 minutes longer.  
6. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Eat immediately while it's just a touch warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Recipe courtesy of Beier's Greenhouse. Taken from a tattered, stained recipe card handwritten by Evelyn Amelia Mildred Shultz Waite (1907-2002).

This recipe is from our Beier's Greenhouse Email Archives - to read more of our Archives, visit http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs080/1102045959108/archive/1102532310401.html