Sunday, February 17, 2013

Fruit Crisp




It’s only taken me two months to get back to food blogging. During that time I did bake. And I did even do some creative stuff. But taking the time to record each step is sometimes too much to even imagine adding to the routine.

Something I have discovered though; I’ve become my mother. Or perhaps more accurately, my grand mother. I hate to waste food. And it isn’t like I just started having to buy my own food! I’ve been buying my own food for over 20 years. Maybe it is a middle-age thing. But I hate to see stuff go into the garbage just because no one got around to eating it. We are SO lazy here. ‘OMG, I have to actually peel a banana before I put it in my mouth??’ ‘I have to cook the meat first?? On the stove?? ARRGGhhhhhh… Too much work. I’ll have cereal.’

Fresh produce is the worst. It takes so much work to fix into something everyone will eat. And most nights, I don’t have that much energy. And when I’m looking for a quick snack, most of the time fruit just won’t do it. Add to that a chronic illness that makes a high fiber diet really uncomfortable and well, fresh produce is just almost a waste for us.

So the Kid says to me that he likes Red Delicious apples. I feel bad that I don’t feed him well enough. I buy a bag of small Red Delicious apples. I don’t like Red Delicious. Apples are not kind to me anymore, but I do love them. Jazz, Gala, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp are my favorites. Red Delicious a mealy, dry and flavorless. Only suitable for baking. But the Kid says….

I ask him later if he saw I got him apples. He said yeah, he tried one, and it was bad, so…. I puffed up like an angry hen. "Sometimes apples have a bad spot! It doesn't mean they’re all bad! What am I going to do with a bag of apples??”

They sit for a while until I need to make a cake for a birthday and decide to add some apples to a box caramel cake (with brown sugar glaze, it was tasty). I cut into four apples and was only able to use three of them and even those were a third or more rotten. I had to apologize to the Kid later for trying to foist off rotten apples on him.

So these apples are still sitting there. Rotten. And I can’t get myself to just pitch them. Then I had a bag of dried figs (I ADORE dried figs) that were dry and fibery and rather nasty. Yet, I couldn’t pitch them. And there were just a handful of shriveled blueberries in my fridge. What’s wrong with me? Do I think I’m saving children from starvation in some third world country if I keep this stuff??

Bake or get off the pot, right?? So I decided to make Fruit Crisp. It is adapted from a pie recipe I found in a cookbook. It’s pretty easy and I think would work for any fruit combo.


One interesting thing is you can use about anything for the liquid. I used 7-Up because its what I had. But I have used Ginger ale and pineapple juice before.


 
Serve it warm with some ice cream or whipped cream and it will be a cozy, happy thing. But honestly, I ate it plain and even after it had cooled it was very nice!

Enjoy, folks! And don’t be wasteful. Kids are starving in Africa. Eat well.

Fruit Crisp
2-3 Cups chopped fruit (apples, pears, berries, dried fruit)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup - plus ¼ cup 7-Up, apple juice, pineapple juice or Ginger-ale
1 T corn starch

Put chopped fruit in a pan with lemon juice, cinnamon and 1 cup of liquid. Cook till hot. Add corn starch to ¼ cup liquid, stir to dissolve and add to hot fruit mix. Cook until thickened.

Topping
½ cup flour
½ cup oats
½ cup butter
½ cup walnuts
½ cup brown sugar

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar and butter, cut with pastry cutter until mixed into small pieces. Add oats and nuts.

Put fruit in 9X9 greased pan and top with crumb topping. Bake in 350 oven for 20 min until hot and bubbly and topping is slightly brown. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.