Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Milestones



Any parent can tell you that there are all sort of milestones that you look forward to with your children.  As babies, you are excited about them learning to crawl and walk and talk and--very important, this one--sleep through the night.  As they get older, you mark different occasions, such as the first day of school and the first loose tooth.  As the mom of an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old, I've been through all of those.  But then last week, I got to make note of a new milestone that I wasn't expecting.  I don't think they have a spot in the keepsake book for your child's first x-ray. =) 

Yes, thanks to my younger daughter Gillian, I've now had the exciting experience of taking my child to the urgent care facility to have her foot x-rayed.  Thank goodness it turned out to be just a bad sprain, no broken bones.  I just really hope that this isn't going to be a trend with her.  I didn't have my first sprain until I was in college, and was even older when I got my first stitches.  Honestly, though, that's pretty surprising, since I've always been quite a klutz.  I've mostly just had lots of scrapes and bruises that I can't remember acquiring. =)  I have to say, it worries me that Gillian is starting all this at 4.  *sigh*


I did have some other, more enjoyable, new experiences over the weekend, thanks to this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  Sarah of teapots and cake stands picked Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp for us to make this week.  I was happy because this gave me a chance to use my new baking pan that I got recently from King Arthur.  Phyl got one recently and recommended it, and I really like the pretty green color.  Even better, it was on sale!  (and might still be)  

Another new thing with this crisp was the idea of using part of the crumb mixture to make a bottom crust, then using the rest for the top.  I've done that for bar cookies, but not for crisp.  I also like the new idea of adding crystallized ginger to the crumb mixture.  One last new thing--I don't think I've ever used strawberries in crisp, since they can get watery when cooked.  Cooking and thickening the strawberry part ahead of time took care of that problem.  I did make one change to the recipe.  I'm not a big fan of rhubarb, so I didn't use it.  I thought about using cranberries to get some tartness (a good idea from Kayte), but then Nancy suggested using apples to get the same sort of bulk as the rhubarb.  I used some fairly tart Macintosh apples, which worked nicely.  (Oops, just realized that I made one other change--I left out the nuts so my girls would eat it.)  (Okay, last one--I also reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup since I thought it might be too sweet without the rhubarb.)


The verdict?  Yum!  This crisp was really delicious.  The combination of strawberries and apples was very good, and I love the chewy bits of crystallized ginger in the crust/crumbs.  Ginger and strawberries is a great flavor combination that I'm going to have to remember.  Both girls liked it, as did Jamie (though he couldn't quite place the ginger flavor at first).  I ate mine without ice cream, both for dessert and breakfast the next day.  I enjoyed the texture of the bottom crust, and will have to try the same technique with other fruits.  

If you'd like to try this recipe for yourself, head on over to Sarah's blog.  And to see what everyone else thought of this week's selection, check out the Links.


15 comments:

  1. I'm glad she's okay! And love that baking dish :-) Great job!

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  2. Ciao ! I'm glad your daughter is ok and love your new pan (the filling too !)

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  3. I'm glad your daughter is ok!

    I liked this a lot and did use the rhubarb but I love apples so good choice there! I think I should have used less sugar because this was really sweet.

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  4. As the mother of 6 children we spent a fair amount of time in the ER. Not fun and hopefully you won't have anymore trips.
    The crisp was excellent! I did love the ginger. I really never liked ginger till Dorie taught me how wonderful it is!
    I like the apple addition. So many great options here.
    Have a better day!

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  5. I've never baked with rhubarb and rarely with strawberries, so this was very new to me! Your apple version looks delicious, especially in that pretty pan. I think of myself as a fairly quiet child but I had a broken bone before I was 2, stitches before I was in school, and a sprinkling of more of the same thereafter. My girls fared a bit better, but we did have a few emergency room visits over the years. Glad G escaped serious injury.

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  6. Yum! That looks delicious! You're a better mom than I am. My girl was limping around for 10 days (walk it off!) until I took her for x-rays. Bruised bone. ;-)

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  7. Oh, the apple idea sounds wonderful. I really am thinking about making it again this weekend with some of the other ingredients people have used just to have an excuse to make it again, it was so good, and gone so fast. Love your new dish...you and Phyl are bad for one another, always purchasing going on when you two get going on things! lol Happy G survived the past week!

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  8. I love those ramekins Di - the crisp looks great in them! Strawberries and apples sound good together, though I thought the rhubarb worked really well too.

    Can you believe I've never had stitches? (*knock on wood*) I'm glad G got off without a broken bone, hopefully she's met her quota of incidents for a while now :)

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  9. i can't get over on how fantastic the food looks!
    My daughter is 14, and already she's experienced a couple of sprained ankles (both on the same foot), a sprained knee, a black eye, strained muscles and cuts and bruises on her face. All these have been for being a bit to fly. KC is the adventurous type and we find it very hard to keep her under control. She's also a bit of a tomboy, and gets into fights from time to time (thats where she got her black eye and cuts and bruises), which is a bit of a shame because shes very pretty and mature looking for her age. All we can do is to just be there and support her every step of the way. So dont worry, all these painful accidents are just part and parcel of growing up and learning how live in the real world. Though it tears my heart to hear my children crying from the pain for being such adorable klutz's :)

    http://verwoodsolutions.blogspot.com/

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  10. So glad your daughter's OK! I myself had a foot x-ray last week, but for boring turning-into-an-old-lady reasons, not scary ones. Unlike my graceful and cautious 6 year old, my little one (just turned 2) is on the mishap and injury track, I fear...knock wood he makes it through childhood without too much damage! There's nothing worse than your child in pain.

    But about that crisp...great substitutions, beautiful crisp!

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  11. Oddly enough, Nimue sprained her foot this week too. Hope Gillian is bouncing back quickly.

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  12. I'm glad to read your daughter is okay.

    As for the dessert, I am waiting for the arrival of Scottish rhubarb here!

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  13. I'm glad G is OK! If you had boys they would certainly have had many x-rays and stitches by this age (or maybe my friends' boys are more accident prone than most). I skipped this one because I'm practically living at work and they won't install an oven no matter how much I plead. I think your changes all sound smart and I'd probably make a lot of the same changes (except nuts...we love nuts!) Take care. xo

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  14. I reduced the sugar too (cut it in half) and didn't miss it at all! looks beautiful

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  15. Wow I love how you created your very own recipe and like you surprised how the strawberries worked for you. Very Creative! Looks pretty as well in your amazing photos.
    AmyRuth

    Glad to know there were no broken bones ... whew.

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