Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I love this time of year: strawberry picking! I love picking  fresh strawberries in the fields. I love being on a farm. I love giving Myla the experience of picking and tasting the sweetness of fresh local fruit. I love spending time as a family. I love traditions. I love telling her about all the years that we have picked strawberries before her and when she was little. I love supporting the local farms. And I love taking picture of the time we spend picking them too! The hardest part about picking strawberries is leaving the patch. No matter how full my basket is I always feel that there is one more to pick! Every year Lyndon tells me how he loves strawberry and rhubarb and remembers eating it in his childhood. So, I tried a new recipe: strawberry rhubarb crisp by Barefoot Contessa. First you need 4 cups of strawberries…we went picking for ours.

The next three pictures are taken by myla. (starting with the one above)

With a little coaching where to focus the red center dot she took some great pictures again!

All Myla wanted to do was eat the strawberries out of my bucket. She thought it was great!

A new rule developed this picking season: if you eat one out of my bucket,  you must pick two to put back in the bucket.

O-how I love my berry bowl!

Now for the recipe…

4 cups fresh rhubarb, 1 inch diced (4-5 stalks)

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, if large

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal, such as McCann’s

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the fruit, toss the rhubarb, strawberries, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit. Pour the mixture into an 8-by-11-inch baking dish and place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

For the topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, salt and oatmeal. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

**did you think that I made it through without tweaking the recipe a little? I tried my best to follow it; however I only used 1 orange for the zest (i did not measure) and only 1/4 cup of the fresh squeezed orange juice(i did measure this). You could definitely taste the orange in the crisp. 2 out of the 4 served would prefer no orange in their crisp next time. And I  did not fill the 1/2 c granulated sugar to the top for the topping, a 1/4 cup would be plenty for me.

ENJOY!!!