Mother Love

It is the most glorious spring day today…mostly because it’s raining. You have no idea how much I’ve missed rain over the winter. Snow is gorgeous, yes, and I love snow days. But nothing will ever-ever-ever replace my absolute love for rain. I don’t know what it is exactly about rain…but it just gets me. I love sunshine days too, sure. But I won’t get excited about them like I do a perfectly cloudy, rainy, and cozy day like today.

Maybe we’ll relocate here when we retire or something…

Whatever it is about rain, it makes me want to be in the kitchen. These kind of days just beg for those comforting smells from the oven that happen when there is a batch of cookies, muffins, scones, or other treats doing there baking magic inside. I just want to smell vanilla and chocolate and cinnamon when it’s raining…I just want to sit down for an afternoon snack with something fresh and hot, with a cup of coffee or tea to go along with it.

So I did.

I made the best batch of muffins that I’ve have ever made in my entire life. I am not even being melodramatic here! They were so easy and yum and full of goodness. I sat down with one, and had to go back for a second because they were just that good. I’ll share the recipe sometime soon.

Some links:

– I don’t generally self-torture myself by looking at this, but I did.

– More self-torture.

– Another of my friends just started a new blog!

– Trying to decide if this look would work on me.

– Making this sometime soon.

– Been playing this lately.

– My friends were awesome enough to try this last week!

– Good to know.

What about you: what do you like to do on rainy days?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I love fruit crisps. They are one of my favorite desserts, and definitely one of my go-to’s when we have friends or family over for a meal. I have, however, found it impossible to stick to one recipe, or actually stick to a recipe for that matter. I don’t know what it is about fruit crisps, but I always end up trying to wing it. A little of this, a little of that…most times it will end up being scrumptious, but there have been some major fails as well. Live and learn, er, bake and learn.

Recipes are just ideas for food, and there are so many ways to customize something to your own preference and tastes.

For this crisp recipe, I started with this. I intended to follow it verbatim, really I did. I made it for a fairly large dinner party we are hosting, and that’s never really a good time to try to wing something. But gah! I couldn’t help myself.

Here’s what I ended up.

Rhubarb + Blueberry Fruit Crisp

4 cups rhubarb
1 cup blueberries
2 T. liquid (i used a mixture of orange juice + water)
1 T. agave syrup
1 T. honey
orange zest
1/2 T. cornstarch
1 cup oats
1/2 cup-ish sugar
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/8 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine fruit, agave, honey, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Place fruit mix into a baking dish and zest an orange on top.

Mix remaining ingredients together until crumbly (use a food processor if you don’t want to use your fingers, but I think that hands are a cook’s handiest utensil). Spread crisp mixture over fruit, and bake at 350 degrees for about thirty minutes, or until the top is golden and fruit mixture is thick.

Serve with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Notes:
– I added liquid to the fruit mix because I like when a crisp is ooey-gooey. Make sure to add a thickener if you add additional liquid.

– The flours you use are completely interchangeable. I like spelt for baking and I added the buckwheat for nuttiness. You can use all purpose, whole wheat, gluten-free, etc.

What about you: do you like to follow recipes verbatim or add your own spin to something?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!