There are moments that are perfect. I sleepily made my way to the table after a summertime afternoon nap. Dinner was tacos with fresh salsa.
Dessert was blackberry and apple crisp. Not just any crisp, but one made from wild tart blackberries and tree fresh transparent apples. The crust was made by an Oma who no longer needs a recipe. It was warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting on top.
August 3rd, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:
Can you believe there was any left?
For many years, I have said “Emile is chocolate, I am caramel”. No, I am not referring to our skin colours, but instead our preferences for desserts. The chocolatey, the richer, – Emile is all over it. Burnt caramel, butterscotch, brown sugar, anything with that rich carmal taste is my preference. And when it is mixed with heavy cream . . . sigh. . . so good. I haven’t exactly spurned chocolate – but the recent societal love affair with dark chocolate and all its varieties has never been something I enjoy or get really.
So, as of late, my urges for chocolate is mystifying to me. Right now, I would rather a Lindt milk chocolate bar before I’d want a crème brûlée. What is wrong with me? Even Emile wondered tonight if there was something bothering me.
Hmmm.
………
……
…
Okay. . . sorry about that, just had to go and eat part of the chocolate bar in the kitchen. I’m back.
Yum.
May 11th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary: Chocolate – its really working for me right now.
My husband is a big fan of science. And eating. And so when he discovered Good Eats featuring Alton Brown he became a big fan. He likes to watch it while eating dinner. And then plan the next night’s meal. Or just dream about the next nights meal.
We watched a very old episode one night about fruit deserts – crumbles, grunts, buckles, cobblers, crisps, etc. I had never heard of a buckle (or a grunt really) before and it struck me as an odd word. I had frozen blueberries, edge of rotting fresh blueberries, butter, almond milk and sugar that I wanted to use up before we got out of this old house. So, with the word “buckle” tumbling around in my head from this episode we watched 3 months ago, I looked up blueberry buckle on the internet.
A buckle is kinda like a crumble crossed with a cake. You basically put cake batter on the bottom, smother it in fruit, then put a crumble topping on it. I mean, hello? What’s not to like? (save for the I’m sure 400 calories a slice).
The recipe suggested whipped cream as a topping, but we’re down to the cans at the back of the cupboard, so creamy things are pretty scarce here. But I had some unsweetened 0% fat greek yogurt in the fridge – surely that would add the needed goodness. But unsweetened? Hmmm. That can be a little sharp.
Emile and I won a spot dance at a Christmas party (yeah, really they still do those), and we won a President’s Choice Black Label Gift pack. One of the items in the basket was a bottle of blackberry syrup. And although it looked tempting, we had maple syrup, and other syrups on the go, and so poor, sweet little blackie languished at the back of the cupboard. Destined to be forgotten if not for current circumstances.
Do blackberries and blueberries go? Well, I don’t know normally, but here, in this house, they do! And with that our blueberry buckle with greek yogurt and blackberry syrup was born. The sour yogurt, the crunchy crumble, and the just sweet enough syrup were a perfect combination.
August 26th, 2012 Extra-Ordinary: Finding dessert out of kitchen scraps that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On the same day. We tested it.
The Daily EO 