It's Finally Here!

I've been looking forward to the beginning of fall this year. First, my daughter is going to start middle school at Oakland School for the Arts. She worked so hard for the audition to get into the school; I'm very proud of her. The most exciting thing for her about middle school? having a locker. I don't really know what that's like, having a locker, since I've never had one growing up in Indonesia (PS: we didn't have proms either). I've witnessed quite big improvements in her cello playing over the summer. I hope she will enjoy her first year in middle school.

Another excitement for me at this time of year, is the arrival of huckleberries. They look like blueberries, but smaller and have sweeter smell. They are one of the pricier berries and only available for a very short time. Just to share the excitement, you can have them in our Macintosh Apple and Huckleberry Galettes this weekend. Huckleberries work well with early fall fruits, like Gravenstein apples, French Butter Pears, and Figs.

In general, you can't go wrong combining fruit that are in season at the same time. For examples: rhubarb and strawberries in the spring, peach and blueberries in the summer, pear and figs in the fall, and apples and quince in the winter.

Here's a recipe for a very versatile crisp topping. You can put it on top of apple pie for a dutch apple pie, bake it into a crisp with whatever fruit you can find, or bake it alone and use for crunchy ice cream topping.

All-Purpose Crisp Topping

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups toasted nuts of your choice, oat, or combination of both

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1# cold butter, cut up into 1/2" pieces

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachement. Add the butter. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly, but doesn't look dry. It will take several minutes. This makes a big batch, but you can always freeze them in portions. It will last for at least a month in the freezer.