Raising the bar

Diane “Dee” Radcliffe grew up in northern Wisconsin, so she was familiar with rhubarb, which looks like red celery stalks. The former Radford High School English teacher and widow of John Radcliffe has lived in Hawaii since 1976. She is happy when she sees fresh rhubarb in the market; then, her lucky friends can enjoy her rhubarb dream bars. The bars have three delicious layers — the shortbread crust, a custardy middle filling with bites of tart rhubarb and a crisp light topping. Radcliffe says the hardest part of the recipe is finding rhubarb. Her advice is to choose the narrowest stalks as they may be the most tender. Often, she makes this dessert a day ahead and refrigerates it for ease of cutting it into bars. It’s delicious!

Rhubarb Dream Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ~ our

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• 1 cup salted butter, softened

• 4 large eggs

• 2 cups sugar

• 1/2 cup ~ our

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 4 cups (about 4-6 stalks) rhubarb, 1/2-inch pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 2 cups flour, powdered sugar and butter. Mix; press into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan. Bake about 20 minutes. While crust is baking, beat eggs, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until blended. By hand, mix in rhubarb. Spoon over baked crust. Bake 45 minutes. Cool for several hours or refrigerate to make cutting into bars easier.

Serves 6-8.

Lynette Lo Tom has written three cookbooks and loves hearing about home cooks. Visit lynettecooks.com for more information.