Today’s post came to me while I was running my marathon on Sunday.

I don’t know whether I was hungry or so bored that I felt like I needed to plan out the rest of my Foodie Friday posts for the entire year because pretty much I had covered every topic in mind already. Let’s just say for argument’s sake that I am not a complete crazy person and that the heat made me dream about light, refreshing food.

As I was running through the half way point in this dreary neighborhood, a picture flashed in my head of me diving into a big pile of pound cake drizzled with a light syrup. All the characters from the board game Candyland surrounded me, and we frolicked through the shady woods. .

I swear I didn’t do drugs, it was the heat.

As I was cooling myself mentally in the woods, I got to thinking about gardens and fresh produce. But for some reason fresh produce wasn’t registering and then I immediately thought of frozen. I think my body temperature began to drop as I imagined myself opening the freezer door. Instead of pulling out the usual frozen strawberries or blueberries, I pulled out frozen rhubarb. Don’t ask me why. My mind wanted to wander and that’s what it happened to pull up.

I have never cooked with rhubarb. But the thought of creating a light syrup out of frozen rhubarb made me happy. And rhubarb syrup as born.

Rhubarb in the non-frozen form resembles red celery stalks. It is primarily grown in hothouses, which is why you see the red, tender, sweeter side when grown in the United States. Fun factoid: rhubarb is ready to eat right after it’s harvested. Talk about fast food.

The syrup is a combination of water, maple syrup, ginger and frozen rhubarb.

You place everything in a saucepan, bring it to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce thickens. Pretty easy. The syrup is a great over pound cake, pancakes, French toast, and well, anything your heart desires.

Aunt Jemima ain’t got nothing on this syrup. Trust me.

Rhubarb Syrup

(adapted from Rachel Ray)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup rhubarb, coarsely chopped
3/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
pinch of salt

Directions:
Combing all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Pour over pound cake and serve.