Recipes & Food Styling

Haven’t left home more than once every 2-3 weeks for groceries since March 20, but drove an hour to Whole Foods in Naperville for RHUBARB! I HAD to! This weekend my mom Jeanne would be making Rhubarb Custard Pie. She made it every Memorial Day weekend, because my dad loved it, and Monday would be his 78th birthday. I LOVE rhubarb & Rhubarb Custard Pie is my absolute FAVORITE food in the world because it reminds me of my amazing mom & dad. I miss them SO SO much, and especially this time of year, which is when they were happiest of all! When I researched the Titanic for my book, “The Last Night on The Titanic,” I was elated to discover rhubarb on the Sea Trials menu for the crew on April 3! I did a study of rhubarb for a section of my book, and I also included my mom’s Rhubarb Custard Pie recipe; here it is:

Rhubarb Custard Pie
1 stick of your favorite frozen pie crust dough
4 cups rhubarb, cut in ½-inch pieces
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon milk
½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
plus extra for lightly coating rhubarb and sprinkling on top of pie before baking
1 Tablespoon butter, plus enough to add pats to pie filling in pie plate

Using your fingers, lightly coat the bottom of the pie plate with a little bit of butter. Using a spoon, lightly coat the rhubarb pieces with a little sugar. Split pie crust in half; sprinkle flour on counter and roll out pie crusts into two circles (top crust and bottom crust). Place the bottom crust in the pie plate. Poke a few holes in the bottom crust with a fork for ventilation while baking. Put the rhubarb in the pie plate. Make the custard using a hand-held beater. Mix the eggs, milk, flour, and sugar together. Pour the egg mixture (the custard) over the rhubarb. Scatter 6 to 8 tiny pats of butter around on the top of the rhubarb. Place the remaining pie crust on top. Using your fingers, scrunch together top and bottom pie crusts. Sprinkle pie with a light touch of sugar or a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Bake in 425 degree oven for 45 minutes.