Everything Rhubarb
Recipes and Stories from a Small Town that Celebrates Rhubarb
By The Divine Rhubarb Committee

How do you put a festival in a book? Well, the Divine Rhubarb Committee found a way. Everything Rhubarb will warm you up and carry you away to a small town to experience a day in the park with aprons swinging in the breeze and tastes, sounds and games that will bring joy and fun into your life. Lanesboro is the official Rhubarb Capitol of Minnesota . . . and the Divine Rhubarb Committee knows how to celebrate a vegetable! The casual, friendly feel of the town and the festival come through in the book Everything Rhubarb . Smiles come easy with lots of color pictures and details that include the words to the Rhubarb National Anthem as sung by the Rhubarb Sisters as well as descriptions of the Rhubarb Olympics. You will learn the history of the Rhubarb Festival beginnings and get the details of when Garrison Keillor brought the Prairie Home Companion to town for two live shows in the baseball field. This book has a chapter on how to grow your own rhubarb as prescribed by Lanesboro's own rhubarb couple. 

One of the main attractions of the Rhubarb Festival is a tasting contest and Everything Rhubarb includes about one hundred rhubarb recipes. Recipes reflect both the sweet and savory side of rhubarb delights and a section on the basics - sauce and juice. 

To say that the book is all fun and games is not doing it justice. Take a look at the back cover and read the words of Will Allen, urban farmer named one of Time Magazine's 2010 top 100 most influential people in the world. "Paging through Everything Rhubarb is both a sweet and endearing look back at an image of the Heartland America that used to be and, from my point of view, an encouraging glimpse of what our nation can and should become again: a consolidation of communities that cherish good food and one another." 

Everything Rhubarb brings small town values right into 2011. The local food movement is strong in Lanesboro and despite the light-hearted flow of the book, those who have been watching food trends across the nation will observe the level this community has taken to live local and live well. Young and old alike are thinking about where their food comes from - including what can be grown in their own backyards.

Meet the Divine Rhubard Committee in person at these 2011 book signings:

• April 28, 1:30-3 p.m.
  The Kitchen Gallery
  1354 Williamson St
  Madison, WI 53703
  608-467-6544 
• May 1, 2-4 p.m.
  Barnes and Noble Book Store
  3800 State Road 16,  Suite 187
  La Crosse, WI
• May 5, 6-8 p.m.
  Barnes and Noble - DePaul Store
  1 East Jackson Blvd.
  Chicago, IL
• May 7, 2-4 p.m.
  "Showcase of the Arts"
  FRIENDS Center for the ARTS
  123 S. Broadway
  Spring Valley, MN
• May 15, 2-4 p.m.
  Barnes and Noble Book Store
  Mall of America
  118 E. Broadway - Suite 238
  Bloomington, MN
• May 18, 7:30-9 p.m.
  Common Good Books
  165 Western Ave North
  St. Paul, MN
• May 28, 1-3 p.m.
  Winona Book Shelf
  162 West 2nd St.
  Winona, MN