Apple Crisp

Is everyone done with their New Year's resolutions yet? Believe it or not, I'm still sticking to mine. Luckily, they don't involve avoiding sugar. (Maybe that's why they're easier to keep this year...)

Anyways, I had some apples rotting in the fridge. It was gross. They weren't really rotting, but they were past their prime for eating, and covered in bruises. Which was why I didn't eat them in the first place, I guess.

So, I sliced them up, covered them in cinnamon sugar, and topped with a cinnamon-sugar crumble made of gluten-free flour mix, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. I was going to sprinkle some vanilla over the apples, but I forgot. The whole thing went into the oven for about an hour at 350.

Topped with coconut cream ice cream (half coconut milk, half whipping cream, with some sugar and vanilla), the apple crisp was perfect for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

No real recipe for this one, since I mostly just threw things together willy-nilly, and there are plenty of recipes for both of these things all over the interwebs.  But if you've got some fruits languishing in your fridge, I hope this will inspire you to save them from the compost heap and enjoy them fully!

In Love with a Mediterranean Climate: Fruit Everywhere

When we went to Italy, the first thing I noticed was plants. They were everywhere! Spilling from balconies, planted in public parks, growing out of walls, on restaurant patios. Everywhere I looked,there were plants. Each week, I’m sharing a different aspect of the plants I saw in Italy. Last week it was plants spilling into the streets. This week, I’m sharing the fruit we saw hanging on trees.

How would you like to walk outside and just pick your afternoon snack off a tree? Sign me up! 

Grapevines aren't just for wineries - we saw some grapes just begging to be eaten in Venice.

In Siena, there was a farmer's market that I was just dying to visit. Unfortunately, the tour guide didn't think that was touristy enough.

At Murano, where they make their world famous glass, I saw this pomegranate tree.

And there were oranges everywhere. When the oranges get ripe, the leaves often fall off the tree. I thought it looked like an orange Christmas tree.

And then there was this little plant on my patio in Rome. Anybody know what it is? My guess is an ornamental pepper, but I'm not sure.