Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Last night was a beautiful evening, the day had been hot and humid, but as evening arrived Western New York did what Western New York does, the humidity decreased and the cooler temperatures where welcomed with the setting of the sun. 

We had friends over for dinner who are moving away next week.  We are very sad to see them go as we have enjoyed getting to know them over the last year and a half.  What better way to celebrate their time with us than FOOD!  Food is the center of all kinds of celebrations and cooking for folks that share our deep appreciation for local and healthy eating is such a joy.  We enjoyed cucumbers (Duink Farm) with goat cheese (farmers market) and fresh dill (our garden) as an appetizer, hamburgers from locally pastured cows on hamburger buns from a local baker, potato salad (farmers market potatoes) with mustard greens (our garden), carrots and radish (our garden), green salad (our garden) with cucumbers and tomatoes (both from Duink Farm).  The finishing touch was the Strawberry (fresh picked locally) Rhubarb (farmers market) Crisp. Everything was so easy to pull together and so flavorful this time of year.

The strawberry rhubarb crisp was made using about 5 cups of strawberries cut in half to 4 cups of rhubarb cut into 1/4 inch pieces.  I than topped it with a combination of oats, brown sugar, wheat flour, ground nutmeg, chopped walnuts blended with butter and cooked it for 45 minutes at 375.  To be honest, I did what no baker should do, but what every cook does - I just added the amount of ingredients I thought would be good - no measuring, just a pour and blend.  Of course we topped the dish with fresh made whipped topping.

And not to stop there, we had our first bonfire of the season and roasted marshmallows and made smores for the kids - both young and old (yes, this dish isn't so local, but a summer staple regardless!).