There is magic in the tangy mix of strawberry and rhubarb flavors, and the best time of year to enjoy them approaches--at least in this part of the country. Local fruits are the freshest, most prime and best tasting. They're easy fare to find at farmer's markets, pick-your-own orchards and local produce vendors, and the jam and desserts they produce simply cannot be matched.

For family fun, we opt for pick your own places. Our favorite u-pick orchard in the area is Linvilla linvilla.com/. Rural gems like this are especially wonderful for children and should always be sought out. Just be sure to bring lots of bottled water if the picking orchards are far from buildings or water fountains.

If I lack the time for u-picks, its time to hit the nearby Delaware and Pennsylvania farm markets. Some of the best in the area are Highland Orchards, Marini Produce, Kennet Square Farmer's Market , Centerville Farmer's Market and The West Chester Farmer's Market. When strawberries and rhubarb are in season, they are sure to be sold at any one of these places.

Strawberry and rhubarb pie is the standard dessert of choice, but strawberry and rhubarb crumble is just as delicious and quicker and easier to make. Throw on a spritz of whipped cream or dollop of ice cream and it's the perfect early summer treat. Here's my favorite recipe, which is a combo of three recipes (an Emeril Lagasse recipe, old Betty Crocker cookbook recipe and the recipe on the back of the tapioca box).

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Ingredients:

5 cups quartered fresh strawberries

3 cups thinly sliced fresh rhubarb

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup tapioca

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and a tsp of finely grated zest

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

Pinch salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced into thin pats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 7-by-11-inch baking dish.

Mix the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, tapioca, lemon juice and zest together in a large bowl, and pour the mixture into the greased baking dish.

Add the flour, oats, light brown sugar, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and whisk together. Place the diced butter to the mixture, and work it together with your fingers until it’s crumbly. Evenly distribute the crumb mixture on top of the fruit.

Bake the crisp in the oven for 40 minutes. The fruit filling should bubble along the sides and the top should be golden brown.

Serve it with ice cream if warm or whipped cream if cold.

* The same filling can be placed in a double pie crust and baked for the same period of time, if you'd prefer pie

I grew up eating strawberry freezer jam made by my Aunt Carole and Grandma Keith. The fresh, tart flavor of freezer jam is unlike that of well-cooked jams. Here's an adaptation of their jam recipes with the addition of rhubarb. Strawberries are still the dominant fruit in the jam, but the addition of the rhubarb makes it that much better.

The Best Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

(yields approximately four cups of jam)

3 cups fresh strawberries cleaned, chopped and lightly mashed

2 cups fresh rhubarb thinly sliced

¼ cup water

1 tsp fresh lemon zest

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (approximately that from one lemon)

2 ¼ cups sugar

1 package pectin

Directions:

Blend the pectin and 1 ¼ cups of the sugar in a plastic or  stainless steel bowl. Place the rhubarb and water in a saucepan, add the sugar and pectin mixture and bring to a boil while stirring intermittently. Allow the mixture to boil for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir well to keep the pectin from sitting at the bottom of the pan.

Place the strawberries in a plastic or stainless steel bowl with the remaining cup of sugar, the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir the mixture well and allow it to sit for five minutes or so.

Mix the strawberries with the rhubarb mixture, cover and cool until the jam is at room temperature. The cooled jam can be stored in glass jars or plastic storage containers. Plastic containers are preferable for long term freezer storage whereas glass is the better option for refrigerated jam. Frozen jam is best used within three months and refrigerated jam in two weeks.