Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

First off, I need to explain my unplanned absence the last few days. My mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital several days ago, so that's where I have been. Thankfully, she was able to leave the hospital yesterday afternoon and go back to the assisted living facility where she now lives. Whew, that always scares us, as she is 89, but I guess she is tough! I am blessed to have a wonderful MIL and I have enjoyed our relationship so much!
I hope you all are having an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend! We are getting ready to visit some family graves, hopefully before the rain gets heavy! Both my Father and my FIL were World War 2 vets, so we take not only flowers, but flags to their grave sites.
Yesterday after noon, I finally got to do a little cooking; I've been wanting to make a strawberry and rhubarb pie for quite awhile, but with all the busyness, I decided a cobbler would be so much quicker. Besides that, my husband is a proclaimed rhubarb hater, so I didn't want to go to a lot of trouble, if he really doesn't like it! I told him he had to try it, to be a good example to his picky son! Well, he did have some last night with a couple of huge scoops of vanilla ice cream and he stated that it was OK. That's better than hating it! Besides, I loved this so much, that I wouldn't mind at all if I had to eat the whole thing! Hehe, all to myself! That would be fine by me! But I'm sure he'll have some more, as long as there's ice cream to have with it.

I had forgotten that rhubarb is considered a vegetable, but it is very tart so it really needs the addition of sugar to make it tasty. And paring it with strawberries is a delicious match. The leaves of the rhubarb plant are considered poisonous, so be sure to remove them before cooking! I didn't have a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler, but I thought I remembered seeing one at Elsie's site, Simply Recipes, so I used hers, with wonderful results! I did adapt the recipe some, as I didn't have the amout of rhubarb the recipe called for, so I used more strawberries.
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COBBLER
For the fruit mixture you need;
3 cups rhubarb pieces, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced or quartered
1/2 cup sugar, (I could have used a little more, 3/4 cup total)
2 T quick cooking tapioca
1 tsp. grated orange peel, (I didn't use this)

Cobbler crust;
1 cup flour
2T. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a bowl, mix the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and orange zest, if using and let set, or macerate for about 30 minutes.
In a another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg together until just blended.
Pour fruit into a 8x8x2 inch baking dish. Drop the batter on top of fruit and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes, until golden. Serves about 6. Top with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired! Delicious! If you like your fruit really sweet, you may need to increase the sugar.
Do you like rhubarb?