Recently I have been relearning the word effective.
What does effective mean to you? I think of accomplishing goals and checking things off a list. This thought process started when I stumbled upon a blog post by Abundant Mama titled “10 Habits of Highly Effective Mamas”. In a striking statement she says, “Effective simply means being able to joyfully show up in a peaceful, playful and present way each day for those we love.”
This is not the kind of effective that keeps a clean house and dinner at 5pm. It is not being on-time and meeting every deadline. This is the effective that releases tension, embraces one’s own personality and is in the moment. This is choosing to set aside our priorities for the present interest of our loved ones – playing trucks with our child, engaging our friend’s favorite discussion topics, or watching our significant other’s favorite genre movie.
On a lighter note, living in summer’s present is eating all of her delicious fresh produce. Crisp is a simple way to enjoy a variety of plentiful fruit.
This is a clean-ish version of crisp. Fresh cut fruit is lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup and topped with a crumbled oatmeal crisp. A hint of spice brings out the fruit flavors.
Feel free to swap out the maple syrup with agave or honey, if you like.
Ingredients
- 3 ripe, but still crisp small/medium pears
- 1 ½ - 2 cups of blackberries
- 1 1/2 Tb maple syrup
- 1 Tb wheat flour
- 1/8 tsp ginger, ground
- 1/2 cup wheat flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats, old fashioned
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Peel, core and thinly slice the pears. Half the blackberries.
- Place the prepared pears and berries in a 2 quart baking dish or 9x9 inch metal pan.
- Add the 1 1/2 Tb of maple syrup and 1 Tb of flour, stir till fruit is evenly coated. Sprinkle the fruit with the ginger.
- In a medium bowl, combine the 1/2 cup flour, rolled oats and salt. Cut the cold butter into the oat mix. Stir in the 1/4 cup maple syrup.
- With hands, crumble the oat mix evenly over the pan of fruit.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes. May serve warm or cold.
- If your crisp survives past dessert, it makes a great breakfast the next day.