To Be Creative Means To Be In Love With Life

Stewed Black Boy Peaches are one of my most favorite foods and they’re truly perfect for crumble.

Filling:
10-12 Black Boy Peaches, peeled and chopped random
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp pure vanilla essence
2 tbsp runny honey

Crumble:
1 cup gluten-free jumbo oats
1/4 cup of buckwheat flour
1/2 cup of chopped raw nuts of choice
1/2 cup of raw seeds of choice
1 tbsp cinnamon
a pinch of each ginger powder, nutmeg and cardamom
1/3 cup of pure maple syrup or runny honey
1/3 cup of melted coconut oil

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Place the filling ingredients in a pan with 2 tablespoons of water and cook on medium heat with the lid on. Once the peaches have softened remove the lid to allow the liquid to reduce – we want a fairly thick consistency – I believe the secret to a crunchy crumble is a relatively “dry” filling so that’s what we’re aiming for.

Once ready, transfer the peach mixture to a deep oven-proof dish.

In a large bowl, combine all crumble ingredients together until nice and sticky then assemble on top of stewed peaches.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and crunchy. Enjoy!

A super easy rainy day craft idea for little monsters featuring the fatal potato (far left).

Clever little zine I came across on my lunch-break at work.

Happiness is picking up your library requested books! Thanks for the book suggestion Rick, already LOVING Deep Work. 
Oh my sister and I were so naughty today. We went to Le Panier Boulangerie !

Another kids fun activity idea: we made wands from felt pipe cleaners and used detergent to blow bubbles.

Yummy healthy snack idea. Raw chocolate energy balls. Recipe HERE.

Do you know what this is? Check out my new Savvy Tokyo article HERE to find out more.

That Time Yuko Turned Her Lounge Into A Kushikatsu Restaurant

Kushikatsu is one of Osaka’s soul foods. Click HERE for a detailed video. Tonight, Yuko out did herself by basically turning their lounge into a kushikatsu joint! It was incredible. I am so full.  First, we dipped our sticks of meat, seafood and vegetables into a white sauce of egg, milk and flour (as a sort of glue) then panko, a Japanese-style breadcrumb then, hot oil.  Before eating, we smothered our fried goods in kushikatsu sauce, which at a kushikatsu restaurant you can ONLY DIP ONCE! I write that in capitals because it’s a big well-known rule however; at Yuko’s, we had our own individual set of sauce, lemon and salt which we could freely double-dip into. For dessert, we had my vegan, sugar and gluten free crumble (with 2 tubs of ice-cream LOL). How great is this ? I heart sharing love and culture through food!

One fruit crumble to rule them all.

It’s safe to say, if I can say so myself, which I can, seeing as this is my blog, that I know how to make a good fruit crumble. And by good, I mean real good. With real ingredients free of dairy, gluten(if you want it to be) and refined-sugar.

Last night, I made said crumble and took it to my dear friend and neighbour, Kaori’s house. Though this has become a recurring habit of ours, nevertheless, it was for a special occasion and that special occasion is Ayyam-i-Ha.

Ayyam-i-Ha, or the Intercalary Days, is a multiple-day Bahá’í festival. It typically falls around the end of February and the beginning of March and is joyously celebrated by Bahá’ís (that’s my religion) in countries and territories all over the world.

It is a period dedicated to being social, hospitable, generous and joyful. In addition, it is a time to prepare for the upcoming Bahá’í fast come March (2nd) though more on that soon!

So, Kaori, her daughter, Emma and I spent last night in yin-yang spirit by consuming a vegan, gluten and refined-sugar-free crumble alongside a huge scoop of budget ice-cream in the same bowl.

Last thing, before I get to the recipe, which I know is why you’re all here anyway, is that this morning, I woke up with a terrible cold and so, was forced to cancel my entire weekend plans. WAH. Nevertheless, it’s giving me some MORE time to work on my blog (as if I don’t harass you all enough) and combine all of my crumble recipes into one neat one, below. Sorry for all the ranting! GO GO GO:

To make the recipe GF, simply use GF oats and ground nuts in place of flour.

Filling:
3 Large apples or pears or a combination, peeled, cored and chopped medium.
1 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries, blackcurrants or raspberries or a mixture of all.
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp pure vanilla essence

Crumble:
1 cup jumbo oats
1/2 cup of quick oats
1/4 cup of flour (I usually use wholemeal)
1/2 cup of chopped raw nuts of choice (I like walnuts)
1/2 cup of raw seeds of choice (I like pumpkin seeds)
1 tbsp cinnamon
a pinch of each ginger powder, nutmeg and cardamom
1/3 cup of pure maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup of coconut oil, melted.

In a small pot cook the apples/pears with 1/2 cup of water on med-high heat until soft (about 15 min).

Add berries, cinnamon and vanilla essence and continue to simmer for another min or two.

The secret to a crunchy crumble is a relatively “dry” filling so transfer the fruit mixture to a round cake tin with as little of its water as possible. You can drink that (that is if you have any excess liquid) or use it in another recipe, if you will.

Combine all crumble ingredients together in another bowl until nice and sticky.

Assemble on top of fruit.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and crunchy at 180C.

**Do keep an eye out so it doesn’t burn.

Oishi desu yo!

ATTENTION BOYS, this works better than flowers.

Flowers are so last year! (Shush! I know you see right through me; I’m actually dying for a fu***ing bouquet.) BUT, a fancy blueberry, peach and basil crumble?! Now, that’s next level romantic shit. If the way to a man’s heart is via his stomach… than the way to a womans’ is through her sweet-tooth? Let’s all just pretend that made sense… Anywho…this crumble is so freakin’ easy to prepare that I dare say, even a male specimen can make it. Let’s break it down to three simple steps (no multitasking required, promise).

filling:
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2-3 ripe peaches (stoned and sliced)
handful of basil leaves (washed – don’t be disgusting)
juice of one lemon

crumble:
1 cup almond meal (a fancy name for ground almonds)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almond but if you’re looking for that extra sumthin’ sumthin’ I’d use hazelnut or even better; macadamia)
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 heaped tbsp honey (don’t be stinge)

1. combine all of the filling ingredients in a medium sized bowl then toss to combine.

2.place fruity deliciousness in an OVENPROOF dish… unless you’ve prepared a firefighter’s outfit… in which case, use a piece of paper.

3.Using a fork, combine the crumble ingredients in a small bowl then assemble on top of fruit mixture.

Bake for 30ish minutes or until nice and golden.

Serve with plain yoghurt, ice-cream or whipped cream (oh yeah!).

*gluten-free
*dairy-free
*vegan
*refined-sugar free