Err... hello again! I'm a bit embarrassed to show my face around these parts after being gone so long. It's lovely to see you again.
The ten months since I last wrote to persuade you that two pounds of leaves could pass as cobbler have been fairly eventful. I left a beloved job of four years; started a new, exciting but very different job with a twice-as-long-commute; attended 7 weddings and 2 bachelorette parties; traveled to 12 states and 1 foreign country; helped my dog lose 10 pounds; conquered my 2017 cooking goal to bring on the heat (chilis, red pepper flakes, harissa, kimchi, and more!); and adjusted to 2017 as well as anyone can given the orange monster in the White House, which is to say poorly.
So, I've been busy, but I vow to visit this sweet space more often in 2018!

Do you ever find a great recipe that really gets stuck in your craw? One that finds its way into the weekly rotation for a period of weeks or even months? This summer and fall, the breakfast crisp in Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook was just that. It is truly a perfect breakfast: nutritious, luxurious, sweet-tart, just filling enough, and endlessly adaptable. We tried many twists and variations, and I hope you'll enjoy the version we liked most, with fresh peaches and minor adaptations to Deb's excellent recipe.
Peach Breakfast Crisp
Adapted from Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
Yield: 4 individual fruit crisps, or 1 large crisp to serve 4.
For the fruit:
1 lb ripe peaches
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
A dusting of freshly grated nutmeg
For the crisp topping:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (65 g) turbinado sugar
1/2 cup (40 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup (65 g) whole wheat flour
A pinch of kosher salt
2 tbsp chopped raw almonds
To serve:
Big dollops of plain yogurt
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare the fruit: Slice through the peach top to bottom, all the way around. Pull or cut out the pit. Slice each half-peach into slices that are approximately 1/8-inch thick. Toss the peach slices with the granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, and nutmeg. If you are doing individual crisps, this can be done in a medium bowl; then divide the coated peaches evenly by weight among 4 oven-proof dishes, such as the French onion soup bowls pictured here. If you are doing a single crisp, the sliced peaches and their accompaniments can be tossed together directly in the baking dish you are using. (I've never done it this way, but Deb recommends a 1-quart gratin dish.)
Make the topping: Pour the melted butter into a medium bowl. Stir in the turbinado sugar, then the oats, then the whole wheat flour, then the salt, then the almonds. The mixture should be sandy, as in the picture below. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Bake for 25 minutes, until the crisps are, err, crispy but not burnt.
Serve warm with a large dollop of plain yogurt.
The crisps keep well in the fridge covered in saran wrap for up to 5 days. They are very good served cold. Typically my husband and I will eat two of them warm from the oven on a weekend, and stick the other two in the fridge for a quick, luxe weekday breakfast a few days later.