Rhubarb Crisp

Nothing tastes better on a rainy evening than warm rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream. Since it's one of my family's favorite desserts, I thought I'd show you how easy it is to make . . .

Let's head out to the garden and pick some rhubarb. Remember when the rhubarb was just starting to poke up through the ground? Now look at it!

I'm going to need about 12 stalks for the crisp. They're easy to pick—just grab near the base and pull firmly and straight up (that's what she said). I'll easily get two harvests from these plants, maybe three, before the end of summer.

First I snap off the leaves:

Then I rinse the rhubarb thoroughly. In fact, I clean it within an inch of its life. (Back at my old house, which sat near the street, I once looked out the window just as a woman was letting her dog pee on my rhubarb. I couldn't believe my eyes! Gross!)

Next I chop up the rhubarb into bite-size chunks:

In a small bowl, I toss together 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1/4 teaspoon mace:

Then I sprinkle it over the rhubarb and mix it all together:

I lightly beat an egg with a fork, pour it over the rhubarb filling, and use it to bind everything together:

I pour it all into a pie plate—almost done, just need to put together the topping.

For the "crisp," I combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/2 cup melted butter:

Using my fingers I sprinkle the topping over the rhubarb and press gently to make the crisp:

Finally, I stick it in a 375-degree oven and bake it for 45 minutes. I let it cool (despite my husband and kids screaming from the family room, "Is it ready yet?" every 5 seconds) before spooning a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream on top and serving. Yummy!

Dinner last night: hungarian ghoulash, rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream