I got together with some friends of mine a couple of weeks ago, for dinner, and the hostess did something fun and interesting for dessert ~ individual fruit crisps in cute little ramekins. But even better than that, they were personalized. She had bowls of diced apples, blueberries, strawberries, and cherries, along with flour, oats, brown sugar, white sugar, honey and maple syrup. Oh, and chopped nuts: pecans, walnuts and almonds. We each assembled our own, then placed them on a cookie sheet (which had a piece of parchment, on which she had written all our names. A very organized lady, believe me!) Then while we were eating dinner, our crisps were cooking.
Oh, and of course, she had whipped cream and vanilla ice cream to top them.
Now, I’m no stranger to fruit crisps. We have an apple tree, and that’s one of the ways we like to use our crop. We’ve done it so many times we don’t even need a recipe anymore. We just eyeball all the necessary ingredients, and we’re good to go. We even tweak them ~ a little sweeter when it’s going to be dessert; somewhat less so when it’s going to be breakfast.
But because we only do apple crisps at home, I was excited to try something a little different. So I started with apples, but then I added some blueberries and a couple of strawberry slices, too. A little flour and then heavy on the oats and brown sugar ~ cuz the crumble topping is what it’s all about, right? And then a sprinkling of pecans and just a smidge of vanilla ice cream.
It was wonderful. I enjoyed it quite a bit. But you know what? I think I might prefer my crisps a little simplified. With the mixture of fruit, I was having trouble fully appreciating any of the fruits. It was sweet, and yummy, but it didn’t taste particularly apple-y, or blueberry-y, or strawberry-y.
There’s a wonderful fun feeling when good things are brought together. But there’s a beauty when things are pure. And realizing that makes me want to appreciate it when God sends blessings that stand out in some way.
Sometimes joys come in bunches, and sometimes one at a time. But I don’t want to under-appreciate any of them. Gratitude is a daily responsibility.
~ “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” ~
Light Expectations 