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 . . .

I use about 8 stalks of rhubarb, which I rinse 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 30 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!