Recipe of the Month

Oh, my goodness, it has been a while since I have done one of these! While I am doing lots better about cooking normally again, I am not really trying new things lately. With both a mortgage and rent to pay, there is not a lot of room in our budget for experimenting of any form right now.

And, truthfully, although Hank is 3 months old and I feel like I should have things together, I just don't. I am slogging through life half awake and smelling of spit-up. I hardly ever get to shower and do my hair in the same day, let alone cook anything more tricky than lasagna.

So, this month's recipe is a really, really easy one. But it's still awesomely tasty!

Crunchy Topping for any Pie

1 cup chopped nuts--walnuts, pecans, etc. Go ahead and mix them if you want.
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. You may need to add a little bit more flour if it's too moist. It should be pretty crumbly. Put this on top of any kind of pie filling, then bake at 350 til your bottom crust is done and the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. We also like to eat this over peeled, cut apples mixed with a little cinnamon and sugar for apple "crisp."

For Thanksgiving, I made a regular butter pie crust, then filled it with cherry pie filling, then topped the filling with this crunch topping for a "dutch" cherry pie. It was AMAZING and really easy. My favorite kind of food these days.