Rhubarb Cherry Crisp

The Miller Family has been on the road for the past 10 days.  Jeff did an awesome job planning our trip.  He did all of the research on places to stay and items of interest to see, which made our trip very smooth.  On Day 1, we drove up to Iowa for Jeff's 25th High School Reunion pulling our RV. 

Class of 1986 Dunlap High School

We stayed in Dunlap, Iowa for a few days and then loaded everything and everyone (including Jeff's parents) into the truck and headed to South Dakota still pulling the RV! 

Corn Palace

The Badlands

JP and the Jackalope at Wall Drug

We traveled to Mitchell to see the Corn Palace, then to Wall to see Wall Drug, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and the Badlands and then stayed 3 nights in Rapid City. 

My best girlfriends at Flintstone Village! 

From there we went to Sturgis, Deadwood, went in a gold mine and panned for gold, we went to Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Flintstone Village, Reptile Gardens and the Wind Cave. 

Mount Rushmore

Dinosaur Park in Rapid City

Wind Cave

Day 8 took us back to Mitchell and then finally we headed back to Dunlap on Day 9.  This morning we packed up the Miller family and drove home to Kansas.  Whew...  It was nice to finally pull into our driveway.  

10 days, 2,000+ miles, 3 different campgrounds, lots of good times and laughs~

And, I also got to see my friend Beckie Graham from high school.  She was visiting the Black Hills with her family.  We got to eat lunch together...it was so great to see her!  Hopefully we'll be able to get together a little more often than every 23 years!  :)

Beckie and Jen

While on vacation, I like to buy local cookbooks.  You know the ones...they are usually spiral bound cookbooks that are put together by some group trying to raise money.  I LOVE these cookbooks.  To me, they are "real" cooking.  Don't get me wrong, I like the fancy cookbooks, too...the glossy pictures, the expensive ingredients, the directions that are pages long and it takes hours to actually cook the recipe.  But the spiral bound ones...well...  They are full of real recipes that real people make.  They're family recipes, recipes that make it to family picnics or get-togethers.  Recipes that remind people of good times.  Good home cooking.  I picked up one of these spiral bound cookbooks in South Dakota.

This cookbook, South Dakota Centennial Cookbook 1889-1989 is awesome!  It has a ton of recipes (282 pages) and lots of interesting tidbits about South Dakota's history and heritage.  It also has a yummy recipe.  Rhubarb Cherry Crisp. I knew it would be perfect to make tonight, since I had raided my father-in-law's rhubarb patch this morning before we left Iowa.  And it was perfect.  No TLS (Tastes like S***) here.  In fact, I got two thumbs up from my boys and was told it was a "make again." 

Rhubarb Cherry Crisp (adapted from Faye (Mrs. Kent) Freichs)

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup melted butter
5 cups sliced rhubarb
1 can cherry pie filling

Combine the oatmeal, flours, sugar, brown sugar and salt.  Pour the melted butter into the mixture and stir with a fork.  The mixture will be crumbly.  Spread half of the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch plan.  Spread the rhubarb over the crumbs and spoon the cherry pie filling over the rhubarb.  Sprinkle the rest of the crumbs on top of the cherry pie filling.  Bake at 350* for 45 minutes.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy~