It occurs to me that I missed rhubarb season this year. While I can sporadically find kale or packaged chard at the grocery store in season, this is not a really seasonal place, the desert of course not being the most hospitable to farming. So no rhubarb and I’ve felt the lack! I wanted to make a crisp before we left California last week and had a wistful moment of wondering if rhubarb might be found at Whole Foods – before I came to my senses and remembered it was October already and the most appropriate fruit of the moment was more inclusive of apples and pears than berries/etc.
.
Summer’s over. My baby is two months old tomorrow. Sierra turned three almost a month ago. We are closing in on knowing where 2017 will take us – for those keeping track this will be our third international/continental move in less than four years and yep, I’m tired! – and the holidays are vaguely on the horizon. I’m two years away from 40 as of yesterday and it is coming home to me that this life I’m living, these children I still get to cuddle for a few more sweet years, is going a bit too fast for comfort.
But that is the nature of our very existence. When I was out on the Bear Valley Trail before we left California taking my walks I did some sleep-deprived pondering, trying to delve deeper than usual. (Slowing down from a run tends to help with this.) Small people help you stay absolutely in the moment and yet conversely those moments flash by in bits of brilliance and beauty and occasional boredom too. I wondered if these lessons to stay present and aware will stay with me after they’ve grown up and into their own lives. I hope so.
Anyway, I missed rhubarb season and didn’t get enough fresh blackberries but what I did get from the Sebastopol berry bushes Sierra and I plucked I paired with apples from my parents’ trees and folded it all together with just a drizzle of maple syrup. Then I added a layer of oats and almond flour tossed with coconut oil and a little more maple syrup and tried not to the think of the rhubarb. Next spring, I promise myself, I’ll get to it for sure.
I used apples and blackberries here but you could use any fruit you like, especially now that fall is upon us (at least in some parts of the world). Persimmons? Pears? Give it a whirl.
Makes 8 servings.
Topping
1 1/2 cups (gluten-free) rolled oats
1/2 cup almond meal/flour
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil
Filling
4-5 large apples peeled, cored, and sliced roughly
1-2 cups blackberries
Pinch cinnamon
Drizzle of maple syrup
Heat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats and almond meal, then stir in the maple syrup and coconut oil. Crunch it together with your hands until it forms a clumpy topping.
In a square oven-proof dish (or really any baking dish you like), toss the apples and blackberries with the pinch of cinnamon and drizzle with maple syrup. Top with the oat mixture.
Place in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes until filling is bubbling and topping is crisp. Remove from oven and let cool the room temperature.
Might I add….book worthy photos!
Nice crisp…..nostalgic photos….you go girl!!!!!