Strawberry Picking a Fight.

"Going Strawberry Picking Today!!"

Doesn't it sound wonderful? Well, it's not. I'm sorry. There is probably something wrong with me but it felt like free labor. Did I really just pay these people to let me do manual labor and pick tiny strawberries every 10 feet? I think I came at a bad time. Or maybe, as a gardener, there wasn't very much satisfaction in harvesting someone else's food. Want to know what was satisfying? The doughnuts. Also, the Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp I made.

Ok, well...some of us had fun.

I had never worked with Rhubarb before, I hadn't even tasted it. It sounded delicious, though, and so I tried it. Looking at the recipe list, it seemed like you couldn't go wrong. The pie turned out amazing and so I wanted to make it again. Only bigger. Boom. Crisp. Get it done. 

Filling:

4 cups 1/2-inch thick sliced rhubarb (about 1.5 pounds)

2 pounds strawberries, hulled and sliced in half

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

large pinch of salt

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Topping:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

large pinch of salt

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

1 cup cup coarsely chopped pecans

a friendly dash of cinnamon 

That's all there is to it. To make the topping, you put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and work the cold butter in with your hands. In a separate bowl, add all of your ingredients for the filling. Then, grab a handful of the topping and toss it into the filling and pour the filling into a large pan. Cover it with the topping and bake at 400 for about 25-30 minutes or until it is "crisped"

Just do it. It's satisfying. At least more satisfying than strawberry picking was for me.