Summer's last hurrah

I've been fighting the approach of fall.  

Rather than a sweet, Indian Summer treat, the past week has felt like a cruel tease from Mother Nature, reminding me that this beautiful weather is leaving, not coming, and that it's going to disappear without a moment's notice, any day now.  And after that, all we have to look forward to is a long, long stretch of cold, blustery months.  Months of jackets and scarves and back muscles permanently tensed against the cold.  Months of short days and meager sunlight.  Months without any fresh produce.  What am I going to cook for all of those months?

I'm not excited about it.

Usually I love fall: the crispness in the air, the relief from the oppressive heat, the prospect of apple cider and fires and cuddling up with a good book.  This year, none of that excitement is here.  Instead, I'm feeling decidedly fatalistic about the approach of cold weather.  Perhaps it's because we had such a beautiful August, and I never had the chance to get sick of the heat and humidity.  Perhaps it's because this summer was often a tough one for me, and I don't feel like I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Perhaps it's because, as Diana has pointed out, our food source is just weeks away from disappearing.  Whatever it is, I've been living in a state of stressful denial.  I'm simply not ready to say goodbye to the summer.  I want more sunshine; I want more long, warm nights; I want more berries and peaches and corn.  

In a desperate attempt to hold on a little longer, I went on a summer-inspired baking spree recently.  Seasons be damned, I'd find the last of the berries and peaches and bake them into delicious desserts, pretending it was the middle of July.  Well, it's not so easy to find good berries and peaches any more.  And if they are available, it's because they've been trucked in from faraway states.  But I stubbornly ignored that fact and baked two of my favorite summer treats, one old, one new.  Deep down I knew that it was just a ruse, that outside it was just as much October as ever, but the desserts were delicious and they just, just might be enough to hold me over until summer's fruits are once again available.

First I made the Blue Hill Cheesecake, this time topped with minted raspberries.  It was every bit as delicious as it looks; maybe - probably - even more so.

After devouring that, I treated myself to my last Peach Crisp of the season. The fruit was admittedly less perfect than I've had, but this is such a good dessert that I really don't think it could have been bad.  And the upside is, though peaches are gone, apples will happily take their place for the

next few months. And come spring, send some rhubarb and strawberries my way. And then, before we know it (maybe? I hope!), it will be summer again.

Fruit Crisp

from The Foster's Market Cookbook

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon (or less) ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling

6 cups chopped fruit (except small berries, which should be left whole)

1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (depending on sweetness of fruit and whether you like your crisp a little tart)

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine all topping ingredients except butter in a large bowl and stir to mix. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease an 11x7 inch baking dish (I usually make this in my square pyrex...using a dish that is approximately the same size is just fine.  But keep in mind that with an 8x8 inch pyrex, some of the fruit usually bubbles up over the edge, so it's a good idea to place a cookie sheet below the baking dish).

Combine fruit, sugar, flour and cornstarch in a bowl and stir to mix.  Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Add the butter to the topping mixture and cut it in with a pastry blender or two knives until it resembles coarse meal.  

I've tried the pastry cutter and two knives and a pastry fork and always find that this takes longer than I'd like and is a big pain in the butt.  My new strategy is to use my hands to mix it all up -- the heat from your hands helps to soften the butter and blend it with everything.  The problem with this is that everything sort of sticks together as the butter softens, and if you cook it this way, the topping doesn't come out right -- you don't get the crumbly texture.  So I use my hands to combine everything, and then use two knives in a scissor like motion to cut it all up again until you get that coarse meal-like texture.

Once you've got your topping right, sprinkle it over the fruit mixture and bake 40-45 minutes until the top is crisp and golden and the fruit is bubbling up around the edges.  Cool slightly before serving.  Eaten warm with some vanilla ice cream, this is one of my favorite desserts.  It's also delicious eaten cold for breakfast the next morning.

Some of my favorite fruit combinations, depending on the season are: apples or apples and cranberries, peaches, peaches and raspberries, mixed berries (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry), peach/rhubarb/strawberry.  Perhaps pear? Haven't tried that yet.  I think this is particularly good when you have a tart fruit in the mix.  I also like to add some spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) to the fruit mixture on occasion.  And with apples, the juice and zest of 1 lemon are a good addition.