Epic Dessert

I suppose this dessert really isn't epic, but it was part of the awesome summer feast I made last Friday, and it is really delicious, so I thought I'd keep it in the same theme! It's one of my favorite desserts, and it's pretty easy to make (which is probably why it's one of my favorites, haha). You can use any fruit you like, really; it doesn't have to be Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. In fact, when I got this recipe from my mom, it was originally apple crisp. But you can make it with pears, peaches, any combination of fruit really (though the firmer fruits seem to hold up a teeny bit better).

I figured I'd go uber food-blog on you guys and post pictures of all the steps. Cause that's fun.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- dash of salt
- 1 stick butter, cubed
- 1 pint of strawberries, washed and cut into quarters (or halves if they're small)
- about 5-6 stalks of rhubarb, leaves discarded, roughly chopped

Hey, no one said the butter had to be pretty. Just chunky.

Mix the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and cinnamon, along with just a teeny bit of salt to enhance the flavor. I'm not kidding, just a small amount. Then cut in the butter cubes. I usually use a whisk, above, but this one is too widely spaced, so all the butter got stuck inside it. Then I tried a potato masher. Big mistake.

I wound up kind of cutting it up with a knife...long, slicing strokes until everything was combined and still a bit chunky.

Spray a small baking pan with cooking spray and spread the fruit evenly along the bottom. (I used my Magic Brownie pan because my other was dirty, but it doesn't really seal along the bottom, so I had to put it on a cookie sheet to prevent leakage.)

Spread the crisp mixture evenly over the fruit, making sure to get in the corners and sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the crisp part is, well...crispy.

Drool. (Told you the pan leaks, by the way.) I served mine with french vanilla ice cream. You'll want to let it set up a few minutes before you serve it, otherwise the fruit will run all over the place. I actually like it better if it's been refrigerated overnight.

Yum. I think I'll go have some of the leftovers for breakfast...