Rhubarb Chutney and Lobster

No, not together. But it is Memorial Day weekend, and I'm using this free time to put up a bunch of stuff. I finally found local rhubarb at a nearby "Farmstand." I put this in quotes because it's like a local Whole Foods, but somewhat smaller and attached to its own farm. There is livestock to visit, hay rides in the Fall, they sell plants and trees, AND it is an amazing grocery. Even more dangerous than Whole Foods. Which is why I rarely go there. Except that they had rhubarb.

So I made rhubarb chutney (recipe from The Joy of Pickling) while I prepared a lobster dinner for 3 of the 4 of us. See if you can guess who doesn't eat lobster...no surprises here. Had to make a hot dog instead. Boiled lobster, grilled corn on the cob, garlic bread, fried fiddleheads...mmmm. Eaten outdoors, of course, since it's so messy. Fortunately it had stopped raining by dinnertime.

Now the chutney is out of the canner, and went, "Pop!...popopop!...pop!............pop!...popop!" In the big lobster pot I have the shells, tomato paste, carrots, celery, onions, spices and water, making a lobster stock. The recipe is from The New England Soup Factory Cookbook and maybe having the stock around will inspire more seafood soups. Likely I'll can the stock tomorrow; it's already pretty late!