Cooking With Jon

Remember the time I interviewed Jon? Well, he had a great time and has been asking me since then if he can do more things on the blog. At first he mentioned doing another interview but I'm stumped for questions. So then he started coming up with his own topics that he could guest post about.

Some days I'd get a call from him at work "I think I'll guest post about {insert topic guys would find interesting/humorous and girls would find weird}"

"No."

Next day "How about---" "No."

The other day he mentioned he should do a post about one of his favorite recipes. I thought that was a pretty great idea. So enjoy!

p.s. today is the last day to sign up for the fall package swap! there's a great group of ladies already signed up! Click the button on the right hand side to find out more info!

****************************************************************************************** Hi Everybody! I have been hassling Carissa for quite some time now to let me do a post on her blog. Not just one where I'm being interviewed. I think Carissa was a little worried that I would ruin the rep of her blog with my manly charms. But that could never happen! This post I decided to make some delicious food. This is one of our favorite recipes to make. For some reason she likes it more when I make it but I think she makes it the best. It's called Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble aka melt in your mouth goodness. A couple years ago we got the recipe from smitten kitchen and we've tweaked it over time to this adaption.

I'll start with what you'll need for ingredients for the filling:

1 1/2 cups of rhubarb 3 cups strawberries
1/2 cup white sugar 1 tsp of vanilla
squeeze or two of lemon juice dash of cinnamon
3 tablespoons corn starch or 2 of flour

For the topping you will need:
1 1/3 cup flour 1 tsp baking powder
3 tablespoons white sugar 3 tablespoons brown sugar
squeeze or two of lemon juice 1/2 cup melted butter

 

Start by combining your strawberries and rhubarb. We had ours frozen in specific portions to make it easier for when we made this recipe. That's how much we like it. If you're using frozen fruit make sure you let it thaw before you start making.

Next add the 1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

squeeze or two of lemon juice

sprinkle of cinnamon

stir all that in

Now add your 3 tablespoons of corn starch. We ran out so I added 2 tablespoons of flour instead.

Stir that in really well till there's no clumps. It should look something like this.

Set the filling aside and start working on the topping. Put 1 1/3 cup flour in a bowl.

Look! It's magic baking powder.

Add 1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons white sugar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Add in a couple squeezes of lemon juice. Watch for seeds! I've learned from experience that people don't usually like having lemon seeds in their food. Or egg shells for that matter.

Now take your 1/2 cup butter and melt it down in the microwave.

pour that into your dry mixture

and give it a good stir until you end up with something that looks similar to crumbs.

take your filling and pour it into a baking dish.

top it off with your dry crumble mixture

spread it all out nice and even

this is a little trick Carissa and I learned, we like to add a little sprinkle of brown sugar on the top. It's also a good way to tell when it's done. When the brown sugar starts to turn darker.

It's time to put it in the oven at 375 degrees F  for 30-45 minutes. You'll know it's done when the fruit is bubbling up around the edges, the brown sugar turns a bit darker, and the rhubarb is soft when you poke it with a fork. Don't eat it when the rhubarb is hard, it doesn't quite taste the same that way.

This is the finished product. Well worth the wait and effort

This is the look it will bring to your face. Don't be alarmed. It's just that good.

Thanks for the time and I hope you all try it!