More of Ontario's finest...

Today is cooler (finally!) here in Ontario, and so I'm indulging in turning on the oven just long enough to produce some lovely treats with more of the local produce I found up at the farm this morning.

Tonight for dessert, we're having an enormous peach and blueberry crumble with home-made vanilla ice cream... I can smell the crumble bubbling over in my oven right now, and luckily the gooey blue rivulets are being caught by an old cookie sheet that I had the foresight to place underneath the casserole dish!! It makes for MUCH easier clean-up, that's for sure.

Now, our Ontario peaches are good, don't get me wrong. However, I have to concede that British Columbia's Okanogan Valley has it AAALLLL over us in the peach department. During the five years I lived out West, I spent the majority of the month of August eating as many of the enormous, fuzzy, juicy fruits as I could lay my hands on. I bought so many of them-- there were so many different varieties to try, each with their own subtle, wonderful differences-- that I wound up lightly poaching, peeling and freezing bags and bags of them, to keep them from "going off" and being wasted. We had a lovely winter stash of peaches with which to top our ice cream, which kept my husband from dwelling on my obsessive-compulsive hoarding tendencies.

Ontario peaches are good. With apologies to Niagara Farmers, whom I LOVE, don't get me wrong... The peaches are just a little on the small-size, in comparison to the BC fruit, in my humble opinion. They are sweet and juicy... but infinitely better when teamed with the humble blueberry.

And so here it is, folks, The Goddess' Peach and Blueberry Crumble recipe! Wonderfully easy, and best when served warm, with vanilla ice cream:

Peach and Blueberry Crumble

Peel and slice as many peaches as will fill about 2/3 of your chosen casserole (I use a medium sized, tall, round one).

Rinse as many blueberries as will fill the remaining 1/3 of your chosen casserole (but be sure to leave a little room at the top for the crumble... or your dish will ultimately overflow!!).

Gently mix the fruit together, to combine.

Add 1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest, and 3 tbsp granulated sugar, and gently mix again.

Topping:

3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c flour

1/2 c rolled oats

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c softened butter

Crumble the topping together with your fingers until it reaches a "lumpy" texture, and then spread it on top of the peaches and blueberries.

Bake 40 minutes at 350-375 degrees, with an old cookie sheet underneath!!

If you have one, it is WORTH IT to pull out the ice cream maker, and make your own vanilla ice cream to go with it!! Or, as my granny used to do, mix up some custard on the stove (I use Harry Horne's custard powder, although I am told Bird's is quite good, too), and place it on the table in a big jug when dessert is served... Each person can pour as much warm custard as they please over their crumble.

Yuuummmmmmmmm....