Lazy Day Cobbler

Who can resist strawberries at 88 cents for a one-pound carton? Certainly not I - who bought four. Once the fresh berries arrive home, of course, they must be dealt with straight away lest they turn mushy. Next comes the dilemma of what to do with four pounds of cut up strawberries glistening with sugar. My first thought was to freeze half of them, but then a better idea popped into my brain - lazy day cobbler.

This recipe always transports me back to childhood because my mother made this on a regular basis. It is also one of my go-to recipes when I remember at 7 p.m. that I have to take something to work in 12 short hours. Lazy day cobbler is warm and yummy as homemade dessert should be, but versatile enough to accommodate whatever you have in the pantry, fridge, or freezer. For me, today, that means strawberries.

Here's my mom's recipe for an 8 inch square cobbler. Double it if you use a larger pan.

1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour (Regular flour is fine, but add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.)
3/4 cup of milk
1 large can of fruit (If you use unsweetened fruit, sprinkle about 1/2 cup a sugar on at the end of the recipe. If you have sweetened fruit, skip the sugar. You can also use fresh or frozen fruit. It's all good!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the butter in the pan and place it in the oven to melt. Beat together the sugar, flour, and milk. (I don't bother getting out the electric mixer for this. Less than a minute with a whisk makes the batter smooth.) Pour the batter over the butter evenly, but do not stir. Spoon the fruit evenly across the pan on top of the batter. (If you used unsweetened fruit, now is the time to sprinkle on some sugar.) Bake for 45 minutes. The batter will rise to the top.

This is really great hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is just as good after it has cooled and the topping is slightly crusty. It's also a good way to use some left over fruit. Since nobody ever wants to eat the last piece of anything, you can always cut up some compatible fruits and make a cobbler. The best combo I've made is apple, peach, blueberry with some cinnamon thrown in for good measure.

Mmm...I can smell the bubbly goodness now, and there goes my timer.