Fruit Crisps

Fruit Crisps
Serves 6 people, more if a la mode

The idea behind a fruit crisp is to use whatever fruit happens to be in season, so you can get it cheap and ripe. However, if your favourite filling is strawberry rhubarb, just remember that you can buy frozen berries, and rhubarb freezes well.

I like to add spices to my topping, but it's all a matter of preference. If nutmeg or cinnamon turns you off, then by all means leave it out or replace it with a spice you prefer. I just happen to like nutmeg and cinnamon. :)

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup quick oats
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg and salt
Fruit filling of choice (see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Stir the melted butter into a bowl with the sugar, flour, oats, spices, and salt. Mix around until the mixture looks like it's a bunch of crumbly small lumps.
3. Place the fruit filling in the bottom of a 9"x9" pan, stirring a little cornstarch into the liquid if there's a lot of it. Top with oatmeal mixture.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the top of the mixture is golden.
5. Serve warm, and for company (or just a treat), top each serving of crisp with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream, like Hagen-Daaz Honey Vanilla.

Fillings:
Pear-Cranberry: Use about 3 small pears, cut into eights, and 1 cup cranberries. Stir in a bowl with 1/4 cup sugar and use some cornstarch if the pears are particularly juicy.
Strawberry-Rhubarb: Stir together one cup rhubarb, one box of whole frozen strawberries (these are likely to produce a lot of juice, so you'll want to use cornstarch, especially if the rhubarb has also been frozen) and a few tablespoons of sugar (this depends on how sweet you like it. I use 2 tbsp, since I like that filling tart).
Apple-Raspberry: Use about 3 tart, firm apples like Granny Smith or Macintosh, sliced in eights, 1 pint fresh raspberries (or 1 box frozen). Mix with a few tablespoons of sugar, and yes... Cornstarch if the berries were frozen.