Celebrating the Good Life with Blackberry Almond Crumble

A lovely summertime treat to serve your party guests: Blackberry Almond Crumble. This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds.

After the dinner party was over last Sunday evening, my husband and I loaded the last dish of blackberry-stained white bowls, with crumbs and streaks of ice cream, hit “start” on the dishwasher, and headed to bed. This is a normal routine for us after a party, after the food is put away. We’ve never had to have a completely spotless kitchen when we kiss each other goodnight, which I’m thankful for.

More time outside with our guests is what I love, rather than cleaning and putting away inside, while everyone is outside having fun without me. I always hate leaving the party! :)

Beyond hanging out, watching television, and making a good meal for our family (which we often regularly prioritize), we also like to stretch ourselves–push toward the finish line–to get a meal on the table for a group of friends. It’s always worth it, as we fall into bed at night.

Celebrate the Good Life.

We celebrate the good life. A life that includes getting to know each other more, because relationships really count. The world beckons in all its intoxicating beauty, but also has its annoying distractions. And I’m reminded with every entertaining moment, how happy we are that we chose to extend ourselves “just a little bit more,” get a meal on the table (it does take effort!), and bring people together.

Our kids were at the table with us, which was another bonus, and I always love to see them happy, engaging with people that mean a great deal to our family.

The pay-off.

The payoff is deeper relationships, and learning to be more deeply present, both important things to learn in our fast-paced world.

Spontaneous is good.

This particular dinner was spontaneous, and we invited friends we hadn’t dined with in years. It’s good to be spontaneous with our hospitality, so we don’t miss out on shared moments. It also takes us out of our comfort zones and stretches us to be more flexible. I sometimes feel for very rigid people, and how uptight their life must be. Celebrating the good life sometimes means you practice hospitality on a whim!

Set the table.

Knowing I needed to set the table quickly, I grabbed the essentials that would tie into some sort of color scheme– the outdoor chargers, white plates, blue canning jar water glasses, yellow linen napkins, and snipped a few zinnias from the flower pots.

Easy! The table was set and the rest of the night is history.

The next morning.

The next morning, I grabbed my coffee and my reading material, and headed to our back covered patio to listen to the birds, watch the hummingbird that loves to swoop in for a quick hello, to feel the cool morning air, and to just sit and contemplate. Morning time is a bit raw for me, with open emotions. I think because it’s my time to pray, listen, reflect, and do soul work, my emotions are soft. I also love to reminisce about the evening before, with our guests. There’s something about a good night with friends who you love, where the dinner party takes on a life of its own.

The after-dinner-party blues set in, but not for long. Looking out to the empty table, I emptied the jars and vases and tossed out the flowers, gathered the linens, pushed in the chairs.

I knew what I needed to do. Think about more friends who we wanted to connect with, get a date on the calendar, and do it all over again!

It’s all part of celebrating the good life.

Blackberry Almond Crumble.

Have I told you how much I love Oregon berries? Blackberries are at their finest right now.

My mom always made the best crumble, and added almonds to the topping, so this time I used Blue Diamond Blueberry Almonds. The flavor of these almonds is indescribable.

Which, by the way, do you know the difference between a crisp and a crumble recipe? I’m not really sure the difference, except the topping is clumpier with a crumble? Just my guess. I also think a crumble has nuts added to the topping.

I have a mini food processor (that I bought years ago at a yard sale for $1 – no kidding!) that I quickly grind up the almonds in.

A crumble is one of the easiest summer desserts you can make. There’s no rolling the crust, having to get the mixer out, nothing complicated.

Mix, toss, crumble, and bake!

When is the last time you engaged in spontaneous hospitality?

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Get the Recipe:

Blackberry Almond Crumble

A lovely summertime treat to serve your party guests with vanilla ice cream.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Yield: 4 -6

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Ingredients

 

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• 6 cups fresh blackberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2½ Tbsp. cornstarch
• 6 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Blue Diamond Blueberry Almonds, finely chopped
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl mix together blackberries, sugar and cornstarch.
• Pour fruit into a sprayed 7x 10 or 8×8 baking dish.
• In the same bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon, and salt.
• Add in melted butter and mix with a fork. Mixture will be lumpy.
• Sprinkle the clumped mixture over the fruit, leaving some of the clumps larger, so it stays crispier while baking.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until topping is lightly golden brown and fruit is bubbling.
• Cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Author: Sandy / Reluctant Entertainer

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This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds, but as always, all opinions are my own!

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