The Crisp

Yesterday I made a batch of apple crisp.  I decided to put some blueberries in too because it is spring.  My crisp recipe comes from my dear friend Gwen, and whenever I make it I think of her and the memories that surround this dessert.

The first time I ate Gwen's crisp, I was a sophomore in college.  I had just moved back home to Charlotte, NC after a hard and disappointing freshman year at The College of Charleston.  I'd decided to take classes at UNC-Charlotte until I could figure out what else to do.  My good friend Molly had also moved home to Charlotte and was taking classes at UNCC, and she said she knew another girl, Gwen, who was in the same situation.  Molly and Gwen were gonna get an apartment up by campus, and they asked me to room with them.  I said, "Heck Yes!"  Thanks to these girls, I ended up staying at UNCC until graduation.

Moll.  Gwen.  Me.

I don't think that Molly, Gwen, or I would say that we had "the ultimate college experience."  UNCC just wasn't that kind of school.  But those two years that I lived with them were filled with some of my fondest memories of college.  During our time together, we formed and grew friendships with one another that I still cherish today. 


Gwen is a domestic diva.  She makes enormous batches of homemade apple sauce and stores it in jars for the winter.  She uses cloth diapers and looks good without make up on.  And, she makes the best apple crisp I've ever had. When I make the crisp, I think of Moll and Gwen, I think of the batches that Gwen would whip up for us in college, and I think about us sitting around our tiny round table eating it right out of the casserole dish spoonful by massive spoonful. 

roommates.  care-free and twenty.  

oh, if only we knew then what we know now.

Moll, Gwen and I are "grown ups" now.  We usually don't get to make crisp for each other any more.  We make it for our husbands and children and friends in the different parts of the country where we now reside.  But even though I eat my crisp with different people, I will always think of these girls as I peel my apples, slice out their seedy cores, chop them into bite-size chunks, and smother them with a crispy, buttery topping.  

So here's to the legendary crisp and the wonderful memories that it provokes.  

THE CRISP.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup oatmeal

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp cinnamon

Makes crisp topping for 8 by 8 dish.  Triple recipe for 9 by 12 dish.  Spread topping evenly over peeled, cored, sliced apples, or other fruit of choice.  Bake at 350 degrees F until apples are tender and topping is golden and CRISPY!


Are there certain recipes you make that remind you of certain people or memories?  Please share!