Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

    When my family lived in Lansing, I remember going to potlucks nearly every Sunday. Maybe it just seemed like every Sunday because I was little, but it was quite often. Of these potlucks there are a few things I remember: sweet and sour meatballs (look but don't touch), jello with fruit in it, deviled eggs, and rhubarb pie. Potlucks, to this day, still gross me out. I guess because you never know if someone's kitchen was clean, if they cooked the meat long enough. You catch my drift.
   A couple of weeks ago, as my husband and I were driving through the country, I remembered rhubarb. I am not quite sure where the thought came from. Perhaps I equate rhubarb with the country. At any rate, I started telling him about the rhubarb pies that women used to bring to potlucks when I was younger. He was kind of quiet so I asked him what he thought about rhubarb.
Pause. "I've never had it before."
"WHAT???"I asked. "Come on!"
This really shocked me. He was serious. He knew nothing about rhubarb. He didn't know it looked like reddish-green celery and that it was very tart. I was on a mission to make him try it. He's not a terribly adventurous eater! :)
     On one of our trips to Whole Foods yesterday, there, lying before me was a huge bed of beautiful rhubarb. I quickly loaded my bag and told Anthony that I was going to make Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.
"Ok," he said, trying to be polite. He always says "ok" to something he's not quite sure about. So I grabbed my rhubarb and found a big vat of gorgeously red strawberries and with my plan in place, I headed home to attempt to make this man like rhubarb.

Look at those gorgeous berries!

My stalks of rhubarb.

Here's the recipe I came up with. I have to say, I was a bit skeptical of the outcome. I knew if I didn't nail this, my husband wouldn't try it again. It turned out perfectly. My only complaint was that there was no vanilla ice cream to go with it. Rats!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

4 cups of rhubarb pieces

2 cups of sliced strawberries

1 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of flour

1 tsp of cinnamon

Topping

1 cup oats

1/2 tsp Apple Pie Spice from Penzey's

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of flour

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

While your oven is preheating, start to wash and cut your strawberries and rhubarb. 

Slice your strawberries. Throw them in a deep bowl.

Wash your rhubarb.

Cut into small pieces and throw in the bowl with the strawberries.

Add sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1 tsp of cinnamon to the bowl. 

Mix well so each piece is covered.

Add to greased 9 x 13 pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, oats, 1 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of Apple Pie Spice from Penzey's and slowly pour the cooled, melted butter over the mixture.

Sorry this is a bad picture. But, the idea is you mix the butter so each oat is saturated.

I find mixing the topping with my hands helps to saturate the mixture most efficiently.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the rhubarb mixture starts to bubble. Pull out of oven and serve warm or let cool. 

And this is what it should look like! 

My little happy camper! 

I hope you all enjoy this recipe!!