Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

To all my friends with flooded basements thanks to a week of thunderstorms, my sincere sympathies. Sorry, our wet/dry vac has already been lent out, but you are welcome to come over for dessert and talk about it.

I know. Still on a rhubarb kick. But when I see posts like this on other blogs, I can't resist.

Yes, I made it to bask in its sweet saucy glory. Yes, I put it on ice cream. Yes, I put it on my oatmeal. Yes, I eat it straight from the pan with a spoon. I hope you don't mind if I double-dip.

The original recipe called for four stalks of rhubarb. Are you kidding me? I have three massive rhubarb plants taking over my garden, I need to use more than four stalks. So as always, I adapted. I think the lemon adds a brightness to it all, a lovely discovery for future reference.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Adapted from Everybody Loves Sandwiches, who adapted it from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from...

1 and 1/2 lbs. rhubarb, sliced

3 c strawberries, quartered (I used a 16 oz. bag of frozen strawberries)

Juice of half a lemon

1/2 c sugar (or enough to coat fruit)

3 T cornstarch

Pinch nutmeg

Pinch cinnamon

Topping

1 c flour

1/2 c oats

1 t baking powder

1 T brown sugar

3 T raw sugar

Zest of one lemon

1/3 c melted butter

1/4 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375F. Add the rhubarb and strawberries to a casserole pan, tossing with the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Squeeze in lemon juice and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients, except walnuts. Stir until clumps form. Use your hands to scatter the topping evenly over the fruit. Sprinkle top with walnuts. Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit have created a bubbly sauce. Cool slightly and serve with ice cream.