Vintage Eats Recipe:  1984 Blubarb Crisp

Sometimes a vacation inspires my cooking.

In 2005, my husband John and I flew to Alaska for vacation. In Anchorage we rented a car and drove through the gorgeous interior, viewing majestic mountains, tall pine trees, elk, moose, and a fantastically beautiful purple plant called fireweed.

Along the way, we stopped at a village called Talkeetna. We stepped inside the Talkeetna Roadhouse for a meal and were delighted with the rustic interior. The friendly staff told us it was called a roadhouse because you could rent a room to stay if needed. We were staying in a B&B so we declined.

I thought of it as something like a hostel as a steady stream of people – mostly visitors, I think – wandered in and out. Many looked equipped for hiking and camping.

We ordered elk sausage sandwiches from the menu. Delicious!

For dessert we couldn’t resist an unusual-sounding dish called Blubarb Pie.

I had made rhubarb desserts throughout our marriage – mostly, crisps and crumbles. My mother-in-law was the queen of Rhubarb Cream Pie. They always turned out so luscious. She made six pies at a time, getting the rhubarb from her garden, to share with other people.

John and I had never heard of Blubarb Pie. The waitress explained that it was a combination of blueberries and rhubarb.

We had to have it!

The result exceeded our expectations. The blueberries melded with the rhubarb so well that you could not pick out where the rhubarb began and the blueberries ended. It was scrumptious!

Back home, I found it easy to make this dessert by simply adding one cup of blueberries to a regular rhubarb dessert. No need for extra sugar or thickener if you thoroughly drain the blueberries after washing.

Even if you’ve frozen rhubarb for the summer, it will turn out terrific. I’ve often pulled a couple of bags (I wash and cut it into one-inch chunks before freezing in zipper bags) for this dessert throughout the year.

Give it a try using this vintage recipe below. The recipe came from a cookbook published by the Zanesville (IN) Church of God  in 1984.

The assembly is so quick and easy – you can have it out of the oven in little over an hour. Let it cool slightly before spooning over ice cream, yogurt or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

**

Rhubarb Blueberry Crunch

Mix:

3 cups rhubarb, diced

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup blueberries, washed, drained

Crunch:

1 cup oatmeal, uncooked

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 9”x12” pan.

Mix crunch mix until crumbly. Place ½ mixture into baking pan.

Cover with rhubarb mix.

Top with remaining crunch.

Bake 45 minutes.

Yield: 10 servings