Creamy rhubarb tarts and an old story
Creamy rhubarb delicious
Those of you who know me a little better or those of you that have followed me a little longer, might know that I have not always been in the same profession. Lord knows I have had just about as many different jobs as anyone wants to have when I was younger. I made it my pride to be a job-hopper. The longest position I had been in for the first 10 professional years of my life was maybe 2 years.
However, one of my most memorable jobs must have been starting out as a student nurse all those years back in 1982. I was 19 at the time and as green as grass. My parents have always been fairly strict. I went to parties at our local high school but that was about the experience I had with ‘disco’s, partying and the like”. In that day and age it was a rule that you had to live in the sister-flat if you started your education. It’s all changed nowadays but when I started out you had to study for three months, then do an internship at a hospital, go back to school and then work some more. The majority of the time was spend in the actual hospital that hired you as a student.
Delicious creme fraiche
I was a very shy girl when I went into that sister-flat but I did meet a lot of nice people pretty quickly, some of which are still my friends today. We all had a tiny room of 2 x 3 meters which was our home. Put a bunch of girls together in a house and you’re bound to have mayhem so there had to be rules. No men were allowed in the house after 11 pm. No booze was allowed in the rooms. And we had a very very firm mentrix overseeing us all. Let’s call her mrs. S. She was pretty terrifying and she either liked you or she hated you. It doesn’t take a lot of guessing finding out in which category I was placed.
My friends all had boyfriends and our rooms where situated close to one another. I was – having grown up in a protected environment – still a virgin so it soon became a bit of a joke, me being the ‘eternal virgin’… (hey, I was almost twenty years!) It didn’t really bother me a lot to be honest so I just joked along with the rest of them.
My room was the only one facing the hospital. So if you would be working in the surgical ward we all worked in, you could literally look into my room. Not a good thing when you have someone like Mrs. S watch your every move like a hawk.
The boyfriends of my friends would drop in to the flat to see if there girlfriends were home. Remember this was the age before we all had Iphones to register our every move, so without a phone in the room, it would always be easiest to drop by and see if someone was home. Quite often they were gone, so the guys, whom I had met and got along quite well would drop in to my room for a cup of tea and a chat before saying goodbye again and moving on. This would always happen during the day. Broad daylight so my curtains were mostly open. No reason to sit in the dark, right?
Imagine my surprise one day when I got back from work, still in my uniform and pretty tired, when Mrs. S was waiting for me in the hall. “Come with me young lady.” She said in her usual aggressive and scary voice-tone.
My mind started racing and thinking what on earth I could have done wrong this time while I walked with her to her office. She opened the doors and imagine my surprise when my parents where sitting in her room. I was a little shocked, not knowing what to think but I was gestured to sit down and shut up.
Mrs. S. then proceeded in explaining, in front of me and my parents, that she was very concerned about my behavior. I had a lot of male visitors, I drank booze in my room on many occasions and I sometimes got home at 6.30 pm. In short, she was basically saying I was some sort of whore and she had alerted my parents to this fact. I was completely and utterly stunned. The only part of her story that was true was the last part; I did get home sometimes after having been out really late. We would go dancing for the entire night with friends and come home, well yes, very late. But we were young, living on our own for the first time, so who could blame us right? Wrong…
I stammered and I stuttered which I am sure convinced her and my parents of my obvious guilt. The fact that I blurted out that I was still a virgin was obviously just a tactic trying to get them of my back. I did not drink alcohol at all at that time. I hated beer and thought wine was just mediocre, so I didn’t drink, but I did have the occasional beer in my tiny fridge for when I had visitors. It appears mrs. S was close friends with the headnurse of the ward where I worked who -clearly – could spy and look into my room. She must have seen the guys coming over and having a tea (not whiskey).
One of our fellow students who had a room next to mine, M., was a very timid and weird girl. But she was high on the list of favorites of mrs. S. so I did not have the heart to tell her that M. was the one who brought in all those bottles of booze (which she probably found empty at some trashcan)!
I got a really serious warning that afternoon. If I would not get my act together I would be thrown out of the program altogether. I was so mad you can’t believe it. Being caught is one thing, but being blamed for something you obviously did not do, was beyond me. My parents, unfortunately, believed mrs. S and it is still the reason why they look at the friends of that period with mixed feelings. They still think I did all those things. And they blame my friends for that… Ridiculous but true. Not that we ever talk about it, but I just know.
My friends and I; well we had a really good laugh about it later on and they had something else to tease me about.. 
Thanks goodness for friends!
And why o why you wonder, does this have anything to do with these lovely and creamy rhubarb tarts? Well, mrs. S was a regular horrible old tart. So guess how I was reminded of this story… So before you’re completely nodded off, have a look at this delicious and simple recipe!
Creamy rhubarb tarts
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Ingredients:
- 4 sheets puff pastry (we have squares here that are already the right size)
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon creme fraiche
- 2 sticks rhubarb (thinly sliced at an angle)
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
Directions:
| Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Thaw the puff pastry squares if you have them or if you're using a block of pastry roll out and cut into the desired shape. You can use round or squares | |
| Lay your pastry on a baking sheet, prick all over with a fork and brush the edges with the whiskes egg. If using squares score a border of 1 cm on the inside of the pastry not cutting all the way through. Whisk your creme fraiche and the cane sugar together and spread a thin layer at the bottom of the tarts. Lay out your rhubard slices neatly within the borders of your cuts. Use whatever shape or pattern you want. | |
| Bake the tarts for 20 minutes until puffed up and golden. Leave to rest for a few minutes and eat warm with either some extra of the creme fraiche or a scoop of icecream | |
Note
Totally loved this recipe. The rhubarb is still quite tart so it's best eaten with something like the creme fraiche so I made some extra as it goes together brilliantly!
Recipe by BBC Good Food
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
OOh Simone I am loving this – simple yet so perfectly flavorful. it says Spring and I am craving rhubarb now! Love your cute props too!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:42
Thanks Meeta! I wish I could find more rhubarb… Hoping it will be in the box again on saturday as it is all gone!
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What a locely post and beautiful pictures Simone!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:42
Thanks Regula..
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We all have those horror stories, different but horrible and it was always auld bags of women who had no life methinks! Pity parents always sided with them.
Looks a delicious recipe, when I’m making this month’s challenge I must have some extra pastry to try this. I have to make the pastry with spelt flour so that should be interesting as I’ve only ever made shortcrust pastry with it before!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:42
You should make these Marian! I made these with the leftover puff pastry from the challenge too..
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LOL! A funny story. Women like Mrs. S. are quite terrifying…
That tart is wonderful! Rhubarb is one of my favorite spring veggies. So many gorgeous treats can be made with it….
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:43
I know! I really think back in the day when my mum was doing all the cooking, she really underused those delicious stalks!
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What a story! hahahaha,…:)
Your rhubarb tarts are looking so appetizing! I love a good bought hot Devon custard with these tasty tarts!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:44
Ooo that is a brilliant idea too! Sounds lovely to add the custard!
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Very cute story simone…I was raised strict too..I mean all the girls back home are raised strict and trust me we did have such Mrs S spying on us LOL…lets just focus on the tart
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:45
I’m sure a lot of us had someone like mrs. S in our lives… It’s a long time ago so I just think it’s very funny now!
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Oh wow! Don’t you hate people like Mrs S who are always snooping in other people’s businesses? Hehe, that’s a funny story, though. I hope I could say I was always innocent when I faced similar situations in my life. :-p
Great tarts, btw
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:45
I can safely say that there have been more situations where I was not at all innocent..lol… but I might share those at another time!
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I love your story Simone. It is funny when you recap something that happened years ago. It seems so funny now but I am sure at the time it was not’
Our early rhubarb is poking its head up already and I might just make these this weekend.
Lovely recipe xx
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:46
Thanks Mona! It wasn’t so funny at the time but it’s almost 30 years ago (yeezzz, that sounds really old doesn’t it??) so it IS funny now… I wish I was growing rhubarb in our garden too. Love the stuff!
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I love to read this story (although it’s a bit sad as well). And these little tarts are just gorgeous, totally ready for Spring (just like me!), a real romantic feeling in your photography: beautiful!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:47
Thanks Denise… Ready for spring I am absolutely and 100%
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Simone, you have a great sense of humor and story telling talent.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:48
Thanks Nurit!
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Such a funny story, Simone, though I can imagine it wasn’t all funny at the time it happened.
These are such lovely tart, but a question where did you find rhubarbs at this time? I haven’t seen much of them around…
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:53
I already gave you the answer on twitter but in case anyone else is reading it; they were in our veggiebox for last week. It’s all biological grown so it could be really early rhubarb? Hoping they have it again this week!
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Oh what a story!! Isn’t it funny how parents can’t wait to believe the worst of their kids?! If there were 2 options for my parents to believe they also always believed the worst… meanwhile my brother and I were actually pretty sensible teenagers! Ummm, mostly…! I remember when I was 12 years old I was called into the art teacher’s classroom and yelled at protractedly in front of a class of younger girls for “throwing away” my art pictures instead of taking them home to my parents. The more I protested that I had done nothing of the sort, the more she said I was a liar and should keep quiet. She said I did not deserve my academic badges and finally handed me “my” drawing and dismissed me, totally humiliated. Of course, I got outside, opened the painting and it was not even mine – it was another girl in my class whose surname started with an H and this woman had not looked beyond the first letter. When the class was over, I went back into the art room to show her she had been wrong and she grudgingly apologised but of course the class in front of whom I had been yelled at never heard the apology. I will never forget that teacher, for all the wrong reasons!!
LOVE the rhubarb tarts – a sure sign of spring!
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Jamie — March 8th, 2012 at 16:32
Okay, one from me? Six grade we had a witch of a teacher who decided to punish about 80% of the class for something no one had done (won’t get into it). The punishment was 2 pages back and front written (hand written , mind you – remember hand written?) apology to HER! I refused. Timid, shy, no self-esteem, never call attention to myself, never make waves ME refused. Well, each day the punishment was doubled for everyone who hadn’t turned it in, so it went from 2 to 4 to 6 back and front… I still refused saying I had not done what she accused me of. So she called in my mother. And told my mom that I had done X and not written the punishment. I defended myself. Politely of course. My mom looked at the teacher and said “My children do not lie. If Jamie says she didn’t do it then she didn’t do it. End of story.” And the teacher never mentioned it again. Yay mom!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:52
Oooo ladies! You crack me up! Yes Jeanne, those teachers should really be banished from school and what I cannot believe that she didn’t have the decency to admit she was wrong (and write 20 pages in handwriting saying; sorry Jeanne, I was wrong..”!)
And great that your mum stood up for you Jamie! I love that! And even better for you to stand up for your own rights! Yay Jamie!
Love the story…glad you survived!
Those tarts look amazing – so delicious! 
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:53
Thanks Sara!
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LOL @ your story! You crack me up Simone! You poor thing…being accused! At least you can pay homage to the old tart with this delicious tart!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:54
O lol… I think she is still alive this old tart and would you believe it if I told you that she became a bit famous too at a later stage as an actress…. My friends and I always got a laughing fit when we saw her on tv!
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cute story! great pics. looks yummy.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:54
Thanks Dina!
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Oh Simone these tarts are gorgeous. I love the simple but delicious flavours you have going on here, and those beautiful images make me want to eat my screen!
Your story is so funny, but I can imagine, at the time, it wasn’t funny at all. You poor thing being accused of something you didn’t do.
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:56
Aren’t I sad..lol…
No it wasn’t funny at all at the time but it’s always reason for a good laugh when my friends from that time and I get together and we think of the ‘good old days’!
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I enjoyed your story a lot since I’m new in here and I must say that I really like your blog, this tart in particullary looks delicious with that cream
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:56
Thanks so much Beti and welcome!
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OMG a horrible old tart and it brought up this whole story? I am rolling on the floor laughing hysterically Wow! And what a story. It was quite funny until you said your parents believed old Mrs. S the Sour Tart! How sad – and so unbelievable! I mean anyone who knows you knows how wonderful you are! But on the other hand – these tarts are STUNNING!!! Wow! So pretty! Now I want to bake something like this. Beautiful.
And look how fabulous and fun you turned out, Simone? You are well loved by US!
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Simone (junglefrog) — March 8th, 2012 at 23:57
You’re so sweet Jamie! Big kiss..
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Such beautiful tarts, Simone! Full of spring flavors!
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I laughed at the link between your story and your recipe! But hey, it was a pleasure reading the story, although it kind of brought back teen angst memories. I had fairly strict parents as well, and it always seemed like such a SERIOUS AND GRAVE affair whenever I did something slightly out of line with their expectations (I still cringe at the time my father saw me kissing my first boyfriend – whom he knew about – in public). I wonder if becoming a parent just changes you into that kind of person…
Those tarts looks beautiful! It’s not rhubarb season here yet, though.
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I really enjoyed your story (and this tart looks divine for cheat day!).
I have a similar story from my youth where I was on a big-city field trip (we went to New York to see Broadway plays – quite a treat for small town girl like me from Tennessee!) and two friends and myself got lost from our group. We had an itinerary and knew where we needed to be next, and made our way there, but the tour group (out teachers and classmates) had waited in the original area for us. (Also well before cell phones!) By the time we all met up again, the entire group was convinced we’d taken off on our own just for fun. Nothing we could say would change their minds. The three of us were banned from going to the play that evening. I am still mad about it, over 25 years later!!!
So glad I discovered your lovely site!!!
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