816-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 9, 1994
Mel Hauser of Kitchen Kettle Village talks about the upcoming Rhubarb Festival and
its pie baking contest.
Rhubarb Festival Offers Pie
Baking Contest, Rhubarb Fun
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
INTERCOURSE (Lancaster
Co.) Every third Saturday in
May, a special tribute is paid to
rhubarb in the little Lancaster;
County village of Intercourse.
It’s called the Kitchen Kettle
Village Rhubarb Festival, which
became an annual event when it
was first held 10 years ago.
‘That was in 1984, when Kitch
en Kettle Village wanted to do
something different for a spring
celebration. Everyone did some
thing with strawberries, but rhu
barb— that was the forgotten veg
etable,” said Mel Hauser, publicist
for the village. “Many people
haven’t tasted rhubarb and don’t
know all the delicious-tasting
foods that can be made with it.”
Rhubarb definitely will not take
second place to any other fruit or
vegetable on May 21, from 9 a.m.
to 6 p.m.
It’s amazing what can be done
with that long-stem reddish-green
vegetable. Whether it is in food or
in fun, the festival has come with a
list of innovative events through
out the day-long fest
Visitors can start with a break
fast of strawberry rhubarb French
toast and berry rhubarb parfait
Other food specialties served
throughout the day include chilled
strawberry rhubarb soup, spiced
rhubarb ham, rhubarb pork chop
casserole, rhubarb glazed ham
balls, rhubarb glazed chicken
kabobs, strawberry rhubarb sauce,
strawberry rhubarb pie, strawberry
rhubarb streusel cake, strawberry
rhubarb topping for funnel cakes,
strawberry rhubarb frost, straw
berry rhubarb pie, rhubarb pie,
strawberry rhubarb streusel cake,
rhubarb pecan muffins, strawberry
rhubarb filled cookies, and almond
rhubarb pastry.
The rhubarb pie contest begins
at 10 a.m. The festival attracts peo
ple from across the U.S. Anyone is
eligible to enter the contest.
First, second, and third-place
prizes will be awarded. First-place
prize is $75 in cash. Second-place
is a $25 Kitchen Kettle Village
Gift certificate, and third place is a
$lO Kitchen Kettle Village Gift
certificate.
A rhubarb race car derby 500
begins at 11 a.m. The body of each
dragester is constructed from a
stem of rhubarb. Parts of the leaf
from the stalk may be connected
with toothpicks to create airfoils,
fenders, canopies, and other decor
ative touches. ,
Events throughout the day
include a rhubarb pie throw, free
orange rhubarb punch at the hospi
tality gazebo, a kid’s rhubarb
arcade that includes rhubarb regat
ta, rhubarb bulls-eye toss, rhubarb
pic up sticks, a rhubarb game, a
rhubarb guessing event, the
world’s one and only rhubarb tree,
a rhubarb discovery box, face
painting, cookie decorating, cos
tumed charaters Yummie the ging
erbread Person and Rupert Rhu
barb, and Banjo Jimmy
performing.
At the festival, visitors can buy
rhubarb by the pound, a collection
of rhubarb recipes, and lots of rhu
barb items.
Rhubarb, a perennial plant that
forms a large storage root and a
mass of feeder roots underground,
produces buds that grow long,
thick, reddish stalks with large
leaves. Only the stalks are safe to
eat
Although rhubarb is technically
a vegetable, people most often pre
pare it as a dessert With 211 mg of
calcium, rhubarb is one of the best
sources of calcium in the vegetable
family.
Rhubarb was first grown in
Mongolia. It’s name is a combina
tion of the Greek name for the Vol
ga River, “Rha” and the Latin
“barabrium.” It is assumed that
rhubarb was first used by the bar
barians who lived along the Volga
River.
Reportedly the first rhubarb
plants were shipped to America in
1770 by Benjamin Franklin to
John Bartram in Philadelphia.
These facts and many more are
included in the Rhubarb Recipes
cookbook. The 43-page cookbook
contains recipes from previous
rhubarb festivals, which includes
categories for beverages, breads,
muffins, cakes, cookies, desserts,
jams and relishes, pies, salads,
soups and sauces, and entrees. It is
sold for $2 at the village or by mail
for $3, which covers shipping and
handling. Money from the sale of
cookbooks is donated to The Mus
cular Dystrophy Foundation.
Kifchen Kettle Village is a com
munity of 32 country shops, where
foods are prepared, original crafts
created, and a quality selection of
handmade country wares.
It began in the kitchen of Bob
and Pat Burnley, who welcomed
visitors into their kitchen to
become acquainted over coffee
and freshly baked cookies while
watching strawberries and elder
berries bubble in pots in prepara
tion for jelly making.
Jelly continues to be made daily
at the festival in addition to other
cooking and craft demonstrations
in the village’s 32 shops.
Admission to the festival is free
at Kitchen Kettle Village, located
on Route 340 east of Lancaster.
For more information, call (800)
732-3538 or (717) 768-8261.
RHUBARB BAKING
CONTEST RULES
• All entries must be a pie and
include some form of rhubarb.
• The recipe, name, address and
phone number must be included
with each entry. You need not be
present to win.
• Please have all entries in a dis
posable container.
• Please pre-register by calling
Kitchen Kettle Village at (717)
768-8261.
• Entries must be brought to the
Bake Shop at Kitchen Kettle Vil
lage by Saturday, May 21, before
10 a.m.
See your nearest
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and
Dependable Service!
PENNSYLVANIA
Annvllle. PA
BHM Farm
Equipment, Inc.
RDI, Rte. 934
717-867-2211
Carlisle. PA
R&W Equipment Co.
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Elizabethtown. PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc.
Rt. 283 • Rheem's Exit >
717-367-1319
Halifax. PA
Sweigard Bios.
R.D. 3, Box 13
717-896-3414
Honev Brook. PA
Dependable Motor Go.
East Main Street
215-273-3131
215-273-3737
Honev Grove. PA
Norman D. Clark
& Son, Inc.
Honey Grove, PA
717-734-3682
Loysville, PA
717-789-3117
MARYLAND
Frederick. MD
Ceresville
Ford New Holland, Inc.
Rl. 26 East
301-662-4197
Outside MD,
800-331-9122
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton. NJ
Leslie G. Fogg, Inc.
Canton & Stow Creek
Landing Rd.
609-451-2727
609-935-5145
Wooditown. NJ
Owen Supply Co.
Broad Street &
East Avenue
609-769-0308
Huohesvllle. PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc.
103 Cemetery Street
717-584-2106
New Holland. Pi
A.B.C. Groff, Inc.
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
Qlev. pa
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 2
215-987-6257
Pitman. PA
Schreffler Equipment
Pitman, PA
717-648-1120
Quaki
iwn. Pi
C.J. Wonsidler Bros.
R.D. 1
215-536-1935
Temaque. PA
Charles S. Snyder, Inc.
R.D. 3
717-386-5945
Wett Grove. PA
S.G. Lewis & Son, Inc.
R.D. 2, Box 66
215-669-2214
Washington. NJ
Smith Tractor &
Equip., Inc.
15 Hillcrest Ave.
201-689-7900