It was maybe ten years ago, one Saturday I picked some rhubarb. I wanted to make a couple of rhubarb pies like my mom used to make. So I called her and asked for her rhubarb pie recipe. She responded by telling me that she had a number of good rhubarb recipes; rhubarb cake, rhubarb coffee cake, rhubarb crisp, and a couple more that I don't remember. However, no rhubarb pie recipes. The more I asked her, the more she refused to tell me about her rhubarb pie recipe.

A couple days later I received a large envelope in the mail from her. It contained all the recipe ideas she had mentioned. However, no pie recipes. Then last year one of my sisters started cleaning out some things she took home after dad died, Wouldn't you know she found recipes of mom and of Grandma. There were lots and lots of rhubarb recipes. So she emailed me a number of them and sure enough there was mom's rhubarb pie recipe.

So you ask did I ever make my rhubarb pie that day? Yes I used my wife's recipe. You may say this is a nice story but what does it have to do with a fall day when there is no fresh rhubarb. Well I will tell you. Yesterday a friend from my TRW days, 20 years ago, sent me an email saying that he had thinned out his rhubarb patch and was coming over to plant some rhubarb in our back yard. So now I have my own rhubarb and hopefully in one more year I will have enough rhubarb and won't have to bother my brothers or my other friends who have rhubarb.

Here is one of my grandma's recipes notice the baking instructions.

Rhubarb Custard Pie - One of Grandma's recipes

Filling:

1 lb rhubarb
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water

Sprinkle cut rhubarb with sugar, add cinnamon, cornstarch mixed with water, bring to boil, simmer till thick and clear.

Custard sauce:

2 cups milk
2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Crust:

1 pkg graham crackers
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar

Frost with white of egg

No further instructions.