Spring Rhubarb Salad for a Crowd

How could I ever forget the smell of Oxnard Strawberry fields? It was like smelling wine, which it sort of was as the last berries were beginning to rot in the fields.

Erma, do you realize that it is over 30 years since we met in Oxnard? We thought we were so sophisticated, and we were the envy of all our old friends. We were living in Southern California. Land of blue skies and sunny beaches!!

We’ve come a long way, baby.

If you have told me then that I would end up back on a farm in Iowa, I would have said no way, Erma, I’m never going back there. So, look at me now. Hurrying around, fixing salad for 20 visiting foreign ag students who are here to see how we grow soybeans in central Iowa.

Naturally the Board insisted that our dinner menu feature all local products that they would not have back home. I got to make Spring Rhubarb Salad for a Crowd.

Spring Rhubarb Salad for a Crowd:

1 ounce unflavored gelatin
1 cup of cold water
1 1/2 quarts of pink rhubarb
3 cups boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons lemon rind
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 cups celery, diced
lettuce
mayonnaise

Soften the gelatin in the cold water. Place rhubarb in boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar. If the rhubarb is not a deep red color, you can add some red food coloring to get the deep pink you want.

Remove rhubarb from the heat. Grate the lemon rind with a grater. Add lemon rind and gelatin. Stir well and chill.

When it begins to thicken, add the raisins and celery. Pour into heavy molds that have been rinsed in cold water. Chill until firm. Cut in squares and serve on lettuce leaves with a bit on mayonnaise on top.