Blueberry-Strawberry Crisp

Every summer, I try to go blueberry picking. It's just one of the things I love to do. Well, to be truthful, I just love to eat blueberries, which is the main reason I like to go pick them. Blueberries fresh off the bush just taste much better than store bought ones. This all started when I was a kid, eating blueberries straight off the bush on my distant family's property in Mississippi. Then, years later, my blueberry enthusiasm re-emerged the summer after Nathan and I got married. We went to a blueberry farm just outside of Houston, and because blueberries were $1 a pound there, we picked a bucket and a half of the little blue gems. We went home with major sunburns and--get this--TWELVE POUNDS of blueberries. Everyone thought I was crazy for being so happy about having twelve pounds of blueberries in my fridge, but I was beyond thrilled. I gave some away, froze some, ate them by the handful and in my cereal, and spent the rest of the summer making blueberry crisps. I was nuts for blueberry crisps that summer, and it was a good thing, considering how many I made. Nathan thought I had lost my ever loving mind. It was a fun and delicious summer, and ever since then, I look forward to picking some blueberries every summer, though nowadays we usually just go home with a pound or so.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I realized earlier this month that in Texas, the blueberry season is over by July, as opposed to New England, when it's just beginning in July. Duh. Move two thousand miles away into a completely different climate, and you might want to think about the different growing season, Lauren. So no fresh-picked blueberries for me this year. Boo.

However, much to my surprise and delight, my parents came back from a road trip with a gallon-sized ziploc bag full of blueberries for me. They had stopped in Mississippi on their way to and from Atlanta (they went to go visit my brother and sis-in-law, Ken & Meredith), and someone gave them a ridiculous amount of fresh-picked blueberries. Not twelve pounds, but plenty. So I have been back to making my blueberry crisps. They've been great for me as an alternative dessert to chocolate, since I can't eat that right now. There is a little butter in the topping, but evidently it's not enough to bother Jane.

Anyway, I got to the bottom of my bag o' blueberries and realized I didn't have enough to make another crisp, so I decided to add some strawberries, and it came out so yummy. I thought you guys might want the recipe, too, since berries are in season right now and are so delicious. And I hope that if you love blueberries as much as I do, someone will surprise you with a gallon of them!

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Blueberry-Strawberry Crisp

3 cups blueberries
3 cups strawberries, quartered
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
4.5 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375. In a 1.5 or 2 quart baking dish, combine the first five ingredients, through the brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Top the berry mixture with the oatmeal mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden and the berries are bubbling.