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Almost four years ago, a two-year-old Nathan and I flew out to Washington D.C. to attend my sister Michele’s baby shower. Even though I felt like hell because I was pregnant with Lucie - and flying with a toddler is another sort of hell - I had to go!

One of my fondest memories of the trip - besides seeing my mom and my sister pregnant-out-to-there with my nephew Oliver - was the rhubarb cobbler served at the shower. Being pregnant, I never knew what reaction I’d have to food. But this cobbler! It was heavenly - sweet, warm, comforting, and delicious. I ate five servings, as did one of my sister’s pregnant friends. (Note to Michele - please have Amy email me the recipe.)

So when I saw rhubarb prominently displayed at the store next to the strawberries last week, the memories - and a jonesing for rhubarb - prompted me to find something similar. I quickly consulted The Family Kitchen : Easy and Delicious Recipes for Parents and Kids to Make and Enjoy Together for some kid-friendly recipes.

Author Debra Ponzek is the chef and owner of the Connecticut specialty food chain Aux Délices, and a former executive chef of Montrachet in New York City. As she writes in The Family Kitchen, “this book is about the possibilities for connecting with your kids and enjoying your family by cooking together.” Sounds like my kind of cookbook.

Ponzek doesn’t believe in goofy kid food (no smiley faced pizzas here) but in healthful, delicious food that the whole family will enjoy creating and eating together. In each recipe, she also gives tips on how kids can help out in the kitchen.

When I spotted her recipe for Rhubarb, Strawberry and Apple Crisp, I knew I found a good one, especially since it didn’t contain eggs. (We believe that Lucie is allergic to eggs. I think she may be growing out of this allergy, but her peanut one is getting worse. She goes for allergy testing at National Jewish Hospital in Denver this summer to confirm this.)

Rhubarb, Strawberry and Apple Crisp
Serves 8 to 10

*Warning - READ FIRST:
I made the recipe below last weekend and was puzzled about a few things. First 3 large rhubarb stalks equals about 6 cups. Second, three cups of flour wasn’t correct either. I ended up putting in a couple of extra tablespoons of butter to make the topping more crumbly-ish, but it still didn’t seem right. After cooking, it tasted good but was very powdery. And when you stirred up the fruit and the topping with ice cream, the crumble turned into doughy goop. I ended up spooning most of it off. Even though the fruit was fabulous, the topping needs to be reduced by 1 to 1 1/2 cups flour.

Ingredients:

1. 4 large Fuji, Granny Smith, or Gold Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 4 cups)
2. 3 large rhubarb stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)*
3. 1 pint strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters (about 2 cups)
4. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5. 1 cup sugar

Topping:

1. 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2. 1/4 cup granulated sugar
3. 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
4. 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
5. pinch of salt
6. 3 cups all-purpose flour*
7. 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Optional:

1. sweetened whipped cream
2. ice cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the apples, rhubarb, and strawberries in a large bowl and toss with the flour and sugar until the fruit begins releasing its juice. This will take 2 to 3 minutes.
3. To make the topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugars, cinnamon, salt, and flour, and mix on medium speed until crumbly.
4. Stir in the oats by hand. You can refrigerate the topping in a lidded container for up to 1 month.
5. Distribute the fruit evenly in a 9×11-inch baking pan.
6. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the fruit and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream (or both!) if desired.

Suggested family activities:

• Have the kids write up the grocery list.
• Shop at a farmer’s market for the apples, rhubarb, and strawberries.
• Read about rhubarb on the Internet at The Rhubarb Compendium. Learn about rhubarb’s history and medicinal properties.
• Visit a farm that grows rhubarb. Maybe they’ll let you pick some!

Here’s a rhubarb and strawberry crisp recipe from The Denver Post. This recipe has crisp ingredient proportions that make more sense.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Crisp
Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups fresh trimmed rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2. 2 cups sliced strawberries
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5. 1 tablespoon butter, melted
6. 1 teaspoon minced orange peel or lemon peel
7. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping:

1. 1 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
2. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3. 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces
4. 2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour, melted butter, orange peel or lemon peel, and cinnamon. Toss to combine, and place in a 9-inch square pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes.
4. For topping, combine brown sugar, flour and butter in food processor fitted with a metal blade.
5. Pulse to combine until crumbly. Stir in pecans.
6. Sprinkle over rhubarb mixture.
7. Bake until browned and bubbly, about 25 to 30 minutes.
8. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you like tiramusu, or want something aimed at the adult palette, try the Rhubarb Pick-Me-Up(Tiramusu) recipe featured in the Denver Post (recipe is about half way down the column).

Other rhubarb recipes from Cooks.com.

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