Strawberry Week, part 1

Did you know that May is National Strawberry Month? (If you are friends with me, you probably did know this as it is currently my favorite factoid-- I'm pretty sure that Jason has grown tired of hearing me say it!) That means that strawberries are at their peak of freshness in most of the country right now. And I, for one, couldn't be happier! Because even though you can buy strawberries from the grocery store year-round these days, I try really hard not to buy out of season produce. It's more expensive and, frankly, not as good. So I try to keep that to a minimum. Which means when fruits that I really like are in season, I tend to go a little bit nuts. This strawberry season is no different; Jason and I went to our local farmers market this weekend for the express purpose of buying in-season strawberries from Westmoreland Berry Farm. We came home with three quarts of the biggest, ripest, most beautiful strawberries you've ever seen! Three quarts is a lot of fruit and when it's good and ripe, it doesn't last too long. So I got to work on recipes that would make good use of these beauties. First up---strawberry rhubarb crisp.

I was really thinking about making a pie (similar to the one I made last year) but decided that Jason and I really did not need a whole pie to ourselves. So I decided to make a couple of mini strawberry-rhubarb crisps instead since it is much easier than making mini-pies. Fruit crisps are some of the easiest things to make: simply cut up your favorite fruit, toss with a little sugar, a little cornstarch and a squeeze of lemon and top with a mixture of butter, flour and brown sugar. I like to add in oats for texture. Stick it in the oven and voila! You have a beautiful and delicious dessert-- perfect for whatever fruit happens to be in season.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Makes two mini-crisps that amounts to about 4 servings.

Ingredients:
2 cups of diced strawberries
1 stalk of rhubarb, quartered lengthwise and then diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 TBL granulated sugar
1 TBL cornstarch
3 TBL flour
2 TBL brown sugar
2 TBL oats
3 1/2 TBL butter, diced into small pieces
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking dish(es) with cooking spray.
2. Mix strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Spoon into prepared baking dish(es). Set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, oats, and salt together. Add diced butter and mix together using a fork, pastry cutter, or your fingers. Once everything is combined and the butter is the size of small pebbles, place on top fruit.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown. Serve on its own or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.