Promise of a Pie

It all began this last winter when I was a new mother, housebound much of the time, and reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I was struck by the ideas of eating only foods that were grown or produced locally, and learning how to do so even in the middle of winter. Unfortunately, I wanted to begin by putting a garden in my backyard immediately, but it was January. Eating local produce in January apparently required getting ready for winter the summer before, so I had to put off my plan of implementation. This spring, however, we are taking some baby steps toward eating locally. We are taking our Saturday mornings to check out the local farmer's markets and compare for price, variety, and general fun-ness. Adam has graciously agreed to accompany me on these excursions, and on the first one to the Lake Oswego Farmer's Market, I told him that most likely the only things in season yet would be rhubarb, lettuce, and if we were lucky - strawberries.

If the above items were available, I promised him a strawberry-rhubarb pie, which I have never made before. This also required a little sacrifice on my part, too, because I try to get out of making a double-crust pie whenever I can by making meringue pies, or suggesting the pie was meant to be eaten with a crumb topping. Adam has begun to see through my ruse.

See for yourself the beautiful berries we found, which made for a tasty spring pie. It just may be a new family favorite. If I can make it with a crumb topping.