And all at once, summer collapsed into fall…

Just two weeks ago, I looked outside my backyard window and noticed our maple tree was already beginning to tinge orange and red. Isn’t it so neat that nature just has a way of knowing a season coming to an end, and the next one approaching even before we feel it at all? Well, I gotta admit… I do feel the temperature slyly going down (arrrrghhh, so not ready for permanent cold hands & toes), but I just can’t give up on summer just yet. For me, I’m still holding onto the last bit of the season, even if it means wearing shorts out in the September rain out on the field all day, paired with my rain jacket that doesn’t provide me with much warmth.

One minute I could be wearing 4 layers out and about in the neighbourhood, and another minute I’d be sweating from head to toe looking like I just hopped out of the shower wearing a tank top and shorts on the bus on my way to campus. And because I rarely give myself enough time to change into proper clothes after being a sweaty mess from my workouts, I remain in damp clothes all day (this is when “quick-dry” and “moisture-wicking” clothes shine), and I quickly become too cold to function. So then, I proceed to wrap myself in all the layers I possibly brought with me in my backpack until I start running for the bus or walking briskly from A to B, when I would start to sweat again.

My body is really quick to cool me down whenever it detects any sort of movement, which is great! But makes me sweatier than I need to be on a day to day basis. Like if I attend a yoga class, it is not a surprising sight if my mat area is grosser than the super-big-tough-and-muscular-guys-with-the-big-tattoo-sleeves yoga-ing beside me. And at any given spin workout, I can see from the mirror that I’d be dripping during the warmup before anyone else has a trickle of sweat on their bodies. Like what gives?

Anyways, I don’t know how this monologue became so “TMI”, but I’ve been known to provide too much information too often to too many people. Really something to be worked on, but then I also question why so many things are taboo’ed in society, especially when we all experience (more or less) the same things! I just don’t see why it’s better to just keep things to ourselves… I mean, humans are pretty gnarly so I’m just declaring my own gnarly-ness. And that’s okay because I know you’re probably gnarly in your own way too!

We’ve just gotten two weeks of classes down, so it’s safe to say classes are in full swing, and I’m enjoying all of my classes this semester. From vegetable physiology to entomology, every thing is interesting and the other day we even did a lab on potatoes. By the end of this degree, I’d know way too much scientifically proven facts about vegetables, so my future kids better watch out cause they will have an ultimate veghead as a mother.

I feel as though summer has mentally prepared me for a fully loaded semester, and despite feeling like I didn’t have a break or transitional period, I feel pretty good about everything cause it seems like I never lost the groove/momentum I’ve gained over the past four months of constant work, run, school work, repeat.

Like I always say to my friends when hiking, it’s easier to keep trudging uphill quickly than to stop and start again. The momentum you build is always enough to keep you going. It is when you stop that everything becomes a lot more daunting than it really is.

Despite that though, I’ve been behind on this blogging thing, and I really need to get back on it. We’ve been writing some recipe posts for the UBC Farm Blog these past few weeks, and they have our recipes on their archives now! Seems like the people who follow the farm are enjoying the recipes, so that’s super wonderful to hear!

Delving away from the topic of unruly body temperatures, I should probably speak more about this apple crumble or how it came to be one of my “famous” dishes 😉

Not really famous, but famous amongst the people who are closest to me, and that’s the best kind of famous in my opinion! Leung is always a biiiig fan of my apple crumble cause she says it “tastes like a cookie”, and the crumble to filling ratio is very important in this situation. Like this is a serious serious factor to consider when you’re tasting a crumble: is there too much apple or is there too much crumble? The answer has to be neither 😉

Too much crumble and it’s too dry and you’re eating granola, and too much apple means you’re pretty much eating baked apples so both are not good situations to be in. And some crumbles are just way too doughy, while some taste like you’re eating baked oats, which are also not ideal. Soooo I gotta say you need to try this for yourself! It’s one of my no-fail, dump-and-bake recipes that always impress the guests at any dinner party without much effort on your part, and a lot more effort on your oven’s part.

Serve with some vanilla ice-cream for the peeeeerrrfect fall dessert to kick off fall! It’s also really great to freeze in little containers, so you can cozy up, reheat it in your oven, and have a weekday dessert after a long day of running out and about! The recipe also acts as a really nice  fall candle for your home… mmmmmm, sugar & spice & everything nice!