Perfect Rhubarb Crumble Pie

I love rhubarb--tart, tangy ruby-red rhubarb. It's one of the first plants to pop up in my Springtime garden. Actually, it's the only food crop that appears in my garden at any time of year. I live in "deer country".

Bambi and company don't just wander through occasionally. They live here. In the morning they munch on the salal, at noon they frolic through the flower beds after a short nap on the back lawn, and in the evening they bed down under the cedars.

Nothing is off-limits to our four-hooved friends....nothing, that is, except for the rhubarb.

Spring in our part of the world is cool and rainy. I'm thankful that we are not blanketed with snow, but the days can seem rather dreary; at times the gray skies are a bit depressing. However those cool rains reward us with a fresh new crop of rhubarb just begging to be picked, so today I gathered a few plump stalks and decided to prepare one of my family's favorites -- rhubarb crumble pie.

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 5 teaspoon cornstarch
• 4 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

Instructions

1. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Add rhubarb slices and toss until all slices are covered with the sugar-cornstarch mixture. Set aside for about 10 minutes or until sugar appears moist.
2. Place the rhubarb-sugar-cornstarch mixture in the unbaked pastry shell.
3. Place flour, butter or margarine, and brown sugar in another mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour and sugar with a pastry blender until the mixture has the appearance of coarse crumbs. Place this crumble mixture atop the rhubarb in the pastry shell, spreading to evenly cover the rhubarb.
4. Chill the prepared pie in the refrigerator for one hour. (This resting time will allow the cornstarch to begin to thicken the pie filling).
5. After one hour, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake pie in preheated oven for 50 minutes or until crumble topping and pastry edges appear golden brown.