Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I'm still working on getting  back to my more regular posting routine, although not entirely there yet.  I was lucky (sarcasm) enough to get a nasty case of shingles in my eye and the past three months have been a bit of a blur.  Never had shingles or don't even know what it is?  Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction or do whatever you can to avoid it.  There is a preventative shot available although I've heard mixed reviews on the effectiveness.  So after three months of pain moving to burning and itching, I'm glad to have seen the worst of it (fingers crossed) and hopefully my eyesight will return to normal.  Thank you so much Psychgrad for being the pillar of the blog.  You did a great job even with your hands full.  And, of course, I can't forget "R" who always inspires me with his wisdom and sense of humour particularly around our now famous city mayor (shaking head)

Once I started to actually be able to see things with font sizes doubled, I celebrated with a most remarkable trip to Europe with actor boy.  We were in Poland and Sweden researching geneology.  I was actually born in Sweden and hadn't been back since the age of 2 so safe to say it was a couple of years at least.  Other than rain every day, there were so many moments of "WOW" and "no way" and food that resembled manna from heaven that I don't even know where to begin.  Most people in the larger cities (i.e. Warsaw and Krakow) do speak some English.  We had a videographer who accompanied us; a Polish woman who now lives in NYC.  She was amazing as an interpreter in all the small towns we visited and never led me wrong ordering in restaurants.

Surprisingly, through the whole trip I didn't try ANY sweets at all.  I know... I don't understand it myself.  I guess we were so busy chowing down on comfort food and sampling every local beer we could find, it just didn't seem important.  I also don't understand completely why a sweet craving took over as soon as I arrived home.  Thankfully, I had enough ingredients in my freezer to pull together a quick crisp to satisfy the craving.
My favourite and super easy favourite for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is found on the Foodland Ontario site.

• 4 cups (1 L) Ontario Strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced
• 4 cups (1 L) Ontario Rhubarb, washed and sliced into 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon

Topping:
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, melted
• 1 cup (250 mL) each of all-purpose flour and large-flake rolled oats (traditional style)
• 1 cup (250 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon

In mixing bowl, combine strawberries and rhubarb. Stir in sugar, flour and cinnamon. Spoon into greased 13 x 9-inch (3.5 L) baking dish.

Topping: Combine butter, flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over top. Bake, uncovered in 375 F (190 C) oven 40 to 45 minutes or until fruit is tender.

The only item missing in this perfect (for me) scenario was some ice cream to go with it.