Rhubarb Meringue Bars

On the farm in Kansas, my mom had many different "pets" she loved.  One particular pet I missed this weekend was Hector, the goose.

Geese are very protective, especially male geese.  Hector had a harem of about 5 females, and then little babies in the spring.  Hector did not like anyone getting close to his family, and if you got within an unsafe range, Hector went after you.  He could bite, break the skin through your jeans, and the big, black bruise would last for weeks.  He also aimed for your butt, or the top of your thigh.  Maybe that was because we were always running from him and that was the area he reached.

If Hector and the ladies were in the yard and someone drove into the driveway, they would honk the horn until my mom would come out and shoo them out to the pasture.  Hector never chased my mom, maybe because she was the one who fed them?  But Hector and his harem would waddle off and company felt safe to venture up the front walk of the farmhouse and come in for coffee.

I was missing Hector this weekend because Dave was at moose camp, and I am afraid of the dark.  It gets dark now, by 9:00 it is dark, so when I go to bed, the house creaks, the monsters in the closets shuffle, and the things under the beds wiggle just so.  The house is full of noises, and I don't sleep.  It doesn't help that Friday the 13th is this week and every other commercial on t.v. is about the next best scary movie coming out, and I am not allowed to watch those.

If Hector was here, he would lie quietly in wait.  He could be very quiet, and you wouldn't even know he was close, then he would jump up with a squawk and attack..those monsters in the closet wouldn't stand a chance.

So now, without Hector, I am tired.  So I made these rhubarb bars to give me a little pick me up.  I have lots of rhubarb in my freezer, thanks to Anita, and these bars will be a regular treat all winter.

Rhubarb Meringue Bars

from Bun on the Run cookbook

Crust:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 cups flour

1 egg white (save yolk for filling)

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Cream butter and sugar together, add flour.  Spread into greased 9X13 pan, forming a 1/2 inch lip around the edges.  Brush with a thin layer of eaten egg white to glaze.  Bake on bottom rack until golden, about 15-20 minutes.

Filling:

4 whole eggs plus 1 yolk

1 3/4 cup sugar (these are very sweet, you might want to cut back on the sugar)

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

5 cups slices rhubarb

Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, and salt.  Stir in rhubarb.  Spread evenly over pre-baked crust.  Bake until set and the top is nicely browned about 50 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting.

September 11, 2013   Daylight 13 hrs. 28 min.s 11 sec.    Temp. H 54/ L 43˚F