Jennifer's Rhubarb Crisp

THIS IS A REPOST FROM DECKONFOOD.COM.  http://deckonfood.com/?p=475

When it comes to summer time food, there is nothing that says summer to me more than rhubarb.  Every summer, my grandmother would turn her rhubarb into a plethora of delicious dishes from pies to jams to breads.  I was excited when I found out that Jennifer is a rhubarb fan as well.  In fact, when we first into our house, one of the first things we planted was rhubarb.  And while we've not been very successful growing much in our garden, the rhubarb is currently flourishing.

I'm definitely not the only one in the house that can cook.  While Jennifer doesn't cook a lot, there are some things that she does really well.  And one these things just happens to be one of my favorite rhubarb preparations.  The tartness of the rhubarb combines so well with sweet fruits and a nice crumble on the top.  Add a little vanilla ice cream and it's a wonderfully simple summer dessert.

Jennifer's Strawberry Rhubarb Crips

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:

• 1 pint fresh strawberries
• 2-3 cups fresh chopped rhubarb
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup sweet cream butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Step 1:  Cut the rhubarb and strawberries into bite-sized pieces.  You should have 4-5 cups of fruit.  Place all of the fruit into a 2-qt casserole dish or 8" square baking dish.
Step 2: In a separate mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients.  Using your hands, mix everything together until it forms into a nice crumble.  It should be falling apart, not forming into a dough.

Step 3: Place in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes until the crumble is golden brown on the top, and the fruit is bubbling around the sides.  Serve in a bowl with some vanilla ice cream.

Deck on Fainting Goat Gelato - Seattle Restaurant Review

A couple of weeks ago I made my first trip to Fainting Goat Gelato after a nice dinner at Brad's Swingside Cafe.  The gelato was just fantastic, and I wrote a "bonus review" at the end of my original review of Brad's.  The thing is, Fainting Goat deserves far more than just a one paragraph bonus review.  It deserves a post of it's own.

For about the past week I've been wanting to go back to Fainting Goat.  The cinnamon gelato was just so fantastic and so memorable, and this is coming from someone who really is not a sweets or a dessert person, that tends toward the fruity end of the spectrum.  So today, I finally gave into my craving and headed out to get some gelato.

When I got in my car, I decided that in the interest of fairness and comparativeness, I would go to the 85th St. Cafe that is right in my neighborhood rather than drive down to Wallingford for the Fainting Goat.  This way I would at least have a point of comparison and could more objectively say just how good Fainting Goat is.  But, when I pulled up at 9 o'clock, everything was closed and shut down, so I went with my initial plan and headed into Wallingford. 

When I walked into the Fainting Goat, I was instantly excited.  I had been thinking about the spicy chocoloate for most of the drive over there (again, I'm really not a sweets person, and definitely not a chocolate person...it was this good).  But, before ordering a big scoop of gelato, I decided to taste a couple.  First was the spicy chocoloate, which was definitely good.  A nice smooth chocolate with just a hint of heat that caught you right at the very end, just in the back of your throat.  Next I was offered the Almond which had a wonderful rich, explosive flavor.  I decided I was still in the mood for the Spicy Chocolate so I would go with it, and I placed my order. 

While waiting for my scoop, I continued to puruse the cases, looking at probably a dozen or so flavors.  The cinnamon one was absent this night, but there were some new flavors not there previously like Tiramisu (the rotating flavors has now made this even more intriguing...).  Then out of the corner of my eye, I spied a nearly empty hotel pan with a sign that read "Pistachio".  I had to stop the server before fulling dishing up my scoop of Spicy Chocolate to get a taste of the pistachio.  This was absolutely worth it.  The flavor was just perfect, sweet, with a hint of the saltiness you expect from a pistachio, yet so rich and creamy.  Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may have it) there was only enough left for a half scoop.  So, I was able to still satiate my spicy chocolate desire, as well as sample the Pistachio. 

In the end, the Spicy Chocolate was definitely good, but the Pistachio was incredibly delicious, almost to the level of the Cinnamon.  I didn't for one second regret my drive, and gladly paid the $3 for a heaping scoop of wonderful gelato.  Again, I'm not the type with a real sweet tooth for most things (with maybe the exception being Sour Patch Kids), but Fainting Goat has won me over.  I wonder what flavors are going to be there tomorrow night...

Final Verdict: 4.5 stars, and a must visit for anyone.