Amy in the Garden

Is it possible to have too many peas? After dedicating every one of my 5 trellises to three varieties of peas, all planted on the same day (no succession-planting here, baby), all ripening within days, I can say unequivocally: No. Not possible.

“An embarrassment of riches” for certain. The idiom originated in 1738 in a French play, L’Embarras des richesses (1726), and has been used over time to describe too much of a good thing — love, fast cars, clothes, vacation homes, and for every gardener that lives for that first harvest of the season: the taste of food you have grown yourself.

The Photo of the Day shows my first bowl of peas, accompanied by my first cuttings of rhubarb. The rhubarb became the title player in Rhubarb Snacking Cake (recipe below, because gardeners/bakers are a sharing lot).

Abundance has been considered by the greats:

Rosalind:
Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?
— As You Like It Act 4, scene 1, 115–124

This quote from Shakespeare is a bit of smirk: While on the surface, Rosalind is speaking of abundance, she’s actually talking about male genitalia. (One of the many reasons I love Shakespeare. He was both obvious and subtle, often in the same sentence.) But honestly, can’t you make a case for planting, eating, and appreciating the delights of a spoonful of perfectly cooked June peas as both a sensual AND intellectual experience?!

I’d have to answer Rosalind with a resounding “no” again — because there is no such thing as too much of a good thing. Especially if you’re talking about peas.

As promised:

Rhubarb Snacking Cake

Rhubarb layer
1 1/4 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths on the diagonal
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1 T lemon juice
Cake
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 t finely grated lemon zest
/3 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/3 c. flour
1 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/4 t ground ginger
1/3 c. sour cream
Crumb
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/8 t table salt
1/4 t ground cinnamon
4 T sweet butter, melted

Stir together rhubarb, lemon juice and sugar and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter or a nonstick cooking spray. Beat butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Whisk together flour, baking powder, 3/4 t salt and ginger in a small bowl. Add one-third of this mixture to the batter, mixing until just combined. Continue, adding half the sour cream, the second third of the flour mixture, the remaining sour cream, and then the remaining flour mixture, mixing between each addition until just combined.

Spread batter into pan. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the cake, spreading evenly.
Stir together the crumb mixture, first whisking the flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon together, then stirring in the melted butter. Scatter evenly over rhubarb layer. Bake cake for 50 to 60 minutes. Cool completely before serving.