by Bill Whitney

Created on: May 31, 2008   Last Updated: November 10, 2009

Rhubarb and good peaches are two of my favorite fruits and they make a great combination in this pie. Some of you may not know that pie-plant and rhubarb are the same thing. Technically rhubarb is a vegetable but I will, as most people do, think of it as a fruit. Some things jsut don't make a whole lot of sense sometimes. Tomatoes are a fruit and rhubarb is a vegetable. Oh well, I guess the botanists and scientists know best. This recipe is listed in my rhubarb cookbook as pie plant/ peach pie but I prefer to refer to it as peach/rhubarb pie. No matter how you refer to it it is a delicious pie. I love anything and everything made with rhubarb and I love a good juicy peach so this makes a good combination in every way. Rhubarb can be combined with so many different things and used in so many different ways. I really enjoy my rhubarb patch and hopefully next year my raspberry bushes will start producing so we can try some raspberry//rhubarb recipes and make some of our own. I think raspberry rhubarb jam will be delicious and I know raspberry rhubarb cobbler is good because I have made it before.

RHUBARB PEACH PIE

1 8 1/2 oz can of sliced peaches or 1 generous cup of fresh peaches, peeled

2 cups of diced rhubarb

1/4 cup flaked coconut ( I sometimes lessen the amount of coconut as I am not that crazy about it)

1 1/4 cups sugar or Splenda

1 tsp vanilla extract flavoring

3 tbsp butter

Pastry for a 9" double crust pie.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Drain the peaches reserving the liquid. Combine the peaches, rhubarb, coconut, and sugar or Splenda, Add the peach juice and he vanilla. Fill one pastry with the mixture. Dot with butter. Add the pastry top and seal the edges. Make slits in the top crust to allow the steam t escape. Sprinkle the crust with a little sugar. Bake 45 to 50 minutes until the top is golden brown.

If you use fresh peaches, peel them and put them in a little sugar water and boil them for a few minutes to get some good juice. Fresh peaches are worth the extra effort iif you have access to some good ones fresh off the tree. My neighbor where we used to live had a peach tree in his backyard that had some of the biggest and juiciest peaches I have ever seen on it and he nor his wife either one didn't like peaches so I got all the good fresh peaches I could use just for going over and picking the up off the ground and picking them off the tree. I wish I had a tree like that in my backyard now. Again because of my diabetes I use Splenda instead of sugar. For a little different taste that I like, use black walnut extract instead of vanilla. I like to try different things that I know I like in other recipes and see how I like them in new recipes. Just don't overdo it.

Try this with a dollop of fresh homemade whipped cream with a few drops of black walnut or vanilla extract stirred in or a dipper of good vanilla ice cream for a real desert treat that is sure to please most palates This is another one that we enjoy out on the back deck in the evening with our neighbors and a cup of fresh coffee while we visit and watch the sun go down behind the Rocky Mountains. Peach-Rhubarb Pie. good coffee and good friends watching the sun set. You couldn't beat that if you tried.

I wonder if the University of Alberta Press could use a taster for all the recipes in their wonderful cookbook "Rhubarb, More Than Just Pie'? If they could, I am available. I think is a job I would thoroughly enjoy but it probably wouldn't be very good for my youthful figure. LOL

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