Rustic Rhubarb Tart, Rhubarb Chipotle Sauce, Rhubarb Pizza — yes, you heard right.

These are among the many rhubarb-based recipes in the book, Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb, by Tinky Weisblat, a food author from Hawley, Mass., who will speak about her three books and recipes, and food in general, in the meeting room at C.H. Booth Library on Wednesday, October 3, from 7 to 8 pm. This special program is a 2018 Newtown Arts Festival event and is sure to wet your appetite, or at least pique your interest in exploring some new recipes.

The talk will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a question and answer session. And just what is on rhubarb pizza? It includes onion, garlic clove, and honey. You will have to see the book to find out the rest.

Some of Ms Weisblat’s recipes will be available for sampling. She plans to serve Connecticut Style Broccoli Salad from The Pudding Hollow Cookbook and Rhubarb Pound Cake.

The rhubarb-themed book, inspired by her mother’s and grandmother’s love of rhubarb, features a variety of interesting recipes. The author (and foodie and singer) admits up front that she disliked rhubarb as a child and balked at eating it. But as an adult, she enjoys the tart red stalks that pop up in her New England yard every year, and now shares her passion with readers.

Of all of the rhubarb recipes, “the rhubarb pizza is the most rewarding. People are always surprised by it; people expect rhubarb in pie,” said Ms Weisblat, who has had a love of cooking throughout her life and combined that passion with her knack for writing about 20 years ago.

The hardest thing about being a food writer, for Ms Weisblat, is adjusting to how she has come up with recipes. Writing down exact amounts of each ingredient rather than tossing ingredients into each recipe as she goes, which is how most people cook, she pointed out, is the challenge.

“I have zillions of favorite recipes,” she said. “My favorite recipe is the one I most recently made.”

Ms Weisblat said her maple balsamic vinaigrette from The Pudding Hollow Cookbook is a go-to recipe. The book is described on its cover as “A tribute to a New England community that is small in population but big in flavor.”

“Writer Tinky Weisblat shares recipes, memories, and snippets of history that follow the cycle of the year near her Hilltown home,” according to a portion of the description on the book jacket for The Pudding Hollow Cookbook.

Among the recipes to be found in The Pudding Hollow Cookbook are Maple Pickled Beets and Raspberries with Chocolate Chantilly. Oh, and of course there are some rhubarb recipes in the pages.

There are many benefits to being a food writer, noted Ms Weisblat, who also wrote Pulling Taffy.

“I love that I can test recipes, and it gives me an excuse to invite people over to my house. I like to entertain,” Ms Weisblat said. “I love that I can deduct some of my groceries — that’s pretty handy... I’m always learning.”

Ms Weisblat lives with a cat named Rhubarb and a dog named Cocoa; it’s no coincidence her pets are named after items you would find in the kitchen or grocery store. Food, while essential for all to survive, is clearly quite meaningful on a number of levels for Ms Weisblat.

“I think food nourishes us in a lot of ways. It nourishes us literally. Through sharing of food, we share our lives. I think it helps, in a really divided culture, bridge boundaries,” she said.

Reservations for the October 3 program at C.H. Booth Library are requested to help with food planning; call 203-426-4533.