They eat celery, don't they?

I am not really a fan of rhubarb. The very idea of cutting up leaf stalks and baking them in a pie is just ... so ... wrong.

Especially SOUR leaf stalks.

Who thinks this stuff up?

But I do have a small rhubarb patch (look behind the walking onion in the photo below), and I was raised with a New England penchant for thrift. I can't just grow the stuff and let it go to waste!

So I finally found a couple of rhubarb recipes that I like. Basically, surround the stuff with enough sweet dough, let me tell myself it's really Granny Smith apples, and I'm in.

Here's the first rhubarb recipe I ever made:

Blubarb Cookies

1 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1/2" to 1/4" chunks
1 cup blueberries

Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs.
Combine flour, soda, salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
Fold in rhubarb and blueberries.
Drop by large tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on greased or parchment-covered baking sheets.
Bake at 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from sheets; cool completely.

Makes 28 to 30 cookies. They will be puffy, soft and cake-like.