We’re home from a great holiday. It’s wonderful to be home and I’m exhausted. Holidays with a toddler don’t seem to mean the same thing as they did before he came into our lives. I think I’m more physically tired than I was before I left, but my heart has been refilled and I’m looking forward to the world again.
That’s not to say I have much in the way of writing tonight. I’m tired enough that my eyes ache and my body feels disconnected from the chair I’m sitting on. It’s an uncomfortable feeling and one that I’ve learned to listen to. In previous lives of teenager and twentie-ager I’ve ignored my physical and mental self-care in preference for a pandemic of living, and I’ve definitely paid several heavy prices for my arrogance. I try to see the mind and body that can’t today as an asset rather than a frustration. A promise to live a good life, rather than a fast one. It pays off in all kinds of ways and so I need to honour my vows the rest of the time.
When I feel like this, wooly headed and wobbly, I look for food that’s going to help me slide back into my home the fastest. It has to be comforting and it has to be simple, an exact replica of how I want my home to feel. In this case we had lots of apples left over from a bircher muesli obsession I’ve been going through and so I found this wonderful apple crumble recipe hiding on a small piece of paper in my collection. It’s a favourite year round in any household I’ve lived in – the only change here is a seasonal filling of strawberries. A satisfied culinary sigh, if ever there was one.
- 750g granny smith apples – peeled, cored and chopped
- 500g strawberries – hulled and halved
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 200g brown sugar
- 200g self-raising flour
- 200g cold butter
- 100g sultanas or raisins
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
Preheat the oven to 180˚C / 360˚F
Heat a saucepan over a medium heat and add the apples, half the sugar and lemon juice
Cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft
Mix in the strawberries, raisins and 1 tsp cinnamon powder
Transfer to an ovenproof dish
In a separate bowl rub together the flour, cinnamon, ginger and butter, you want a firm consistency, almost crumbly in texture
Sprinkle over the apples
Cover with the remaining sugar and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the crumble is golden brown
Serve with ice-cream, cream, custard, big appetites and rapidly loosening belts.
The Imperfect Kitchen 
Welcome home, comforting and simple…how beautiful, I’d certainly love that also. Yummm to the recipe, I can’t eat apples so I think I’ll make it with some seasonal apricots or peaches xxx J-M
LikeLike
Yum! I’d love to hear how that turns out.
LikeLike
Can’t believe you were that tired and still found the energy to write this and cook crumble. Glad it was so satisfying and comforting. Well done x
LikeLike
I always find this type of cooking very relaxing, probably a big part of it being that it’s so comforting to eat! But I must admit that the writing took a while – my brain definitely didn’t want to come back online and I missed the strawberries completely from the first posting! Your most recent blog post gave me permission not to think about it too much though – thank you for that wonderful read.
LikeLike
Pingback: This Stuff Called Joy / Spiced Rhubarb & Pear Crumble with Vanilla Custard | The Imperfect Kitchen