Balsamic Blueberry Crisp.
I need answers.
Do you fall asleep with the TV on? Are you married? Single? Living in sin?
See, I’m conducting comprehensive research for a study I’m beginning. If you want to become part of How High Is The Divorce Rate Between Couples Who Fall Asleep With the Television On, keep reading.
It seems that in the last four weeks, Mr. How Sweet has aged light years. I mean, he’s always been old, but now he’s really old. He is no longer finding it appropriate for me to watch my mindless trash after 10pm while I lay in our fluffy bed. He wants to fall asleep in silence and darkness. Ummm… hello? When else am I supposed to see Kim Kardashian get cellulite lasered off her rear or salivate over a pork cupcake on Cupcake Wars? Please enlighten me.
He also watches the news. Only the news. Except for the 43 hours he spent re-watching the Royal Wedding this weekend. And that’s probably only because he went to grade school with the Queen. He is enjoying cutting the grass. Like, three times a week. I assume this is satisfying since it gets him out of the house and away from my nagging, but I can’t be sure. Next thing I know he will be reading newspapers instead of the internet and trimming his nose hairs over the sink.
But back to this whole TV thing. I’ve tried the argument that I’m a tortured writer. I use the word “writer” loosely, since anything lengthy of mine worth reading requires me to make a strong commitment to five glasses of wine. I’m afraid of the dark. Sometimes I think I’m haunted. I get spooked by shadows. I fall into mini depressions when I finish reading a good book. Me = tortured.
Yeah, so that hasn’t worked so well. He doesn’t care how tortured I am. He thinks that his sleep carries more value over my mind-numbing relaxation techniques. Fair? No.
So instead of counting sheep while I lay in the dark frightened out of my skin, I’m counting food. It dawned on me two weeks ago that I am inconceivably, foolishly, passionately in love with food. The way it smells, tastes, feels and looks… I adore it. This probably isn’t late breaking news since I’ve been tormenting you with post after post for 17 months, but it was news to me. An epiphany. An enlightenment. A revelation.
I lie in bed and choose an ingredient and think of every combination possible. Blueberries. How many dishes can I make from blueberries? Pancakes. Muffins. Cookies. Pasta? Maybe. Salad? Yuck. Scones. Ice cream. Sandwiches? Possibly. Crisp? Definitely. Would blueberries taste good with steak? What about pork? How about rice? Quinoa? Now I’m hungry. I wish I had blueberry pie in the fridge. I need to get on the treadmill. For the rest of my life.
I birthed this blueberry crisp from my new nighttime habit. Weird, I know. I’m also in love with my blueberry balsamic vinegar, so I suggest you get some and drink it with a straw. It is that good. The regular stuff will work too, but blueberry is the cat’s meow. And I don’t even like cats.
Balsamic Blueberry Crisp
serves 2-4
2 cups of blueberries
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 tablespoon flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup oats
2/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 stick softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1-2 tablespoons coarse sugar for crunch
vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix blueberries with sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of flour and salt. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and add blueberries. I used a 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 baking dish because I wanted a thick blueberry layer, but an 8 x would work fine too. Once the blueberries are added, toss them with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. The blueberry flavor works the best but original should be fine too.
In a bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add softened butter and vanilla, and mix thoroughly with a fork and your hands until it becomes clumped together. Layer crumble mixture on top of blueberries and sprinkle coarse sugar on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
While crisp is baking, add vinegar to a small saucepan and heat over lo heat until it reduces by half – about 5-6 minutes. Set aside to cool, the mixture should thicken at this time. When blueberry crisp is finished, serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzle balsamic reduction on top.
I also suggest you use a larger plate, or even perhaps this thing I’ve never heard of – a bowl – for your crisp. Someone has a bit of laundry to do. Blueberry stains, what?
174 Comments on “Balsamic Blueberry Crisp.”
HAHAHA you are so funny, I love it :D And that balsamic-blueberry combination is very enticing!
“And that’s probably only because he went to grade school with the Queen”
OMG I died reading this.
I’m currently living in sin, and my boyfriend hates when I leave the TV on to sleep. He actually hates the TV on anytime we’re not actually watching it. So much for having it on in the background.
So now I just listen to music on my iPod. But keep drifting to thoughts of food. I’d like to see more combos like this blueberry balsamic crisp.
Hey, Mr. Sweet is actually helping you out here ;)
Okay, we didn’t even put a TV in our bedroom because the husband doesn’t believe in watching TV in bed. WHAAATTT!?!?!? That’s insanity.
I come up with all my recipes on my commute to and from work. True story.
I do this EXACT same thing! So many of my recipes have resulted from nighttime before-I-go-to-sleep brainstorming :)
You are hilarious! I am married and we sleep with the TV on all night. My husband can’t sleep without and I can sleep through anything! I have something I need to confess to you. I have been using your blog for personal pleasure….ewwww….ha! I am in training for a figure competition and come to your blog for food porn!! You have the best recipes and pictures. I am almost disappointed when I click and a savory dish pops up. I need SUGAR!! So, thank you, I feel much better after getting that off my chest! I want blueberries! My competition is May 21st and on May 22nd, I will be cooking yummy treats from your blog!
PS. Hurry up already with the recipe for that little cookie thing with the ice cream in it’s own little bowl!
Hahahahah!
Summer/warm weather makes me crave blueberries – I am not sure why.. perhaps because it was always the blue part of the USA flag on the 4th of July cake we have.
This makes me crave blueberries even more!
I love that cake!
You are too funny!! I loved reading this :)
What a great post, Jessica! I love it when your posts not only contain an amazing recipe, but are also thought provoking!
Confession- I do not like to fall asleep at night with the tv on. I hate waking up to some random informercial! So, while I sometimes watch tv in bed at night, I try very hard to turn it off!
While I feel bad for you that Mr. How Sweet doesn’t want the tv on before bed, I am looking forward to many more incredible recipes! Yes- you are obsessed with food (in a great way!)! :-)
After reading your posts I so want to meet your husband one day. I bet you two are hilarious!!!
I so want to try the bluberry bals vinegar — that sounds so good!!!
hahahaha… love the last few lines. And I love how full that plate is!
I caught Peter watching the Royal Wedding this weekend too. LOL
And we usually go to sleep with the TV off because we only have a DVD player in our room. I will make him put a Friends DVD on when falling asleep though if I can’t quiet my mind or I know he’ll be asleep and snoring before me. Have to drown out that noise!
Oh yes, I know all about trying to drown out the snoring…
Ahhh that blueberry crisp looks fantastic, although I think anything blueberry is probably fantastic :)
and I’m staying at my grandparents house now so I’m forced to share a bed with my sister and she does the SAME thing! No lights, no noise, nothing.
i’m the same way…ever since blogging my mind has crossed over to this dark side where all i think about most of the time is food and what to make and how to make it and flavor it and researching the chemical reactions of baking ingredients…yeesh! my head hurts, i’m going to take a nap…
Crisps and crumbles are my most favorite dessert (outside of frozen yogurt). They are just perfect. Goey, crunchy, awesome! I NEVER watched TV while falling asleep until I started dating Josh. Now I’m sort of used to it. As long as its not ridiculously loud, it doesn’t bother me tooooooo much :) But I can feel for your husband ;)
blueberry balsamic vinegar..oh i want that!
i love this post. laying awake in bed dreaming up recipes and blog posts..yep. and on runs, doing yoga, driving, at work. my brain never shuts off with it :)
Drooling… oh boy!
Mmmmm…crisps are one of my favorite summer-time desserts.
My husband is annoyingly more mature than me too. Whatever– they married us, now they’re stuck with us.
Right!
Haha I love your story behind this recipe! And don’t worry, I think it’s entirely normal to lie in bed at night and wonder about all the things you can make with blueberries, because I do the same thing!
I do a lot of meal planning when I run. Because running makes me hungry. :-)
This crisp looks amazing! I never thought about doing it with balsamic.
Flavored balsamic is so delicious I could cry.
Mr. How Sweet needs to appreciate the finer things in life…like trashy television.
Yum -this looks fabulous!
And for the record, my husband feels the same way about my trash tv being on while he sleeps. At least he tolerates Blanche, Dorothy, Sophia & Rose ;)
And, now that I am nursing a newborn, I NEED the tv on if he expects me to stay awake.
The only things that interests him is, the weather channel – oy! And btw, he is obsessed with cutting the grass too — and we live on 5 acres ;)
Golden Girls is hardly trash! ;)
We fall asleep with the TV on all the time- usually my husband is watching while I am reading or just passing out! This looks so delicious!
looks AMAZING!!! blueberry balsamic…very interesting. what else do you use that in? just blueberry desserts?
me and my hubby are actually opposite – i would prefer silence and darkness at night and he’s used to watching reruns of family guy, south park, the simpsons or futurama. i usually go to bed before him (i’m down by 10ish, he’s not ready till after midnight) so by the time he’s ready to turn in it doesn’t matter to me if the laptop is playing episodes or not. i’m a heavy sleeper.
I have used it on salads before because if I eat them, I really only like vinegar as dressing!
This is one of my favorite posts to date! I love your writing! ” And that’s probably only because he went to grade school with the Queen.” <– LOL!
This looks so good! And you are hilarious!
Oh man oh man, this looks and sounds so good that I’d happily give up the tv in my room, except that’s not actually a sacrifice because I don’t have a tv in my room. Maybe if I said I’d give up my gilmore girls dvds? Except I probably wouldn’t, because I’ve watched four seasons in two weeks… ah well. This still looks amazing.
We stopped falling asleep with the TV on, but it’s only because I got streaming Netflix on my iPhone. I fall asleep to episodes of Grey’s Anatomy or Glee, while the husband plays games on his Nindendo 3DS. Sure it’s noise and light, but its darker and quieter than MSNBC or The Office!
Remind me to tell you about my grandmother’s blueberry cake… and blueberry crunch. :)
Those both sound delicious.
This, as always, looks amazing!
Keith…no TV after 9:00….just be glad you get it until 10. ha!
Balsamic goes so nicely with fruit. I’ve had a bunch of strawberry balsamic truffles, which are amazing. As an added bonus, balsamic is grown up, so cooking with it makes you an adult.
Oh, and I recently saw this post for strawberry balsamic stracciatella ice cream:
http://bakemeaway.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/balsamic-strawberry-stracciatella-ice-cream/
I love it in truffles too!
Yum, blueberry balsamic vinegar sounds delicious – and what neat idea, adding it to your blueberry crisp!
You are hilarious and that crisp looks divine!
you are soooo funny! That crisp llooks so good!
My boyfriend is about 13 years older than me and he does the same exact things!!! I always question how he can be so happy sitting in his house with his massive (and I mean MASSIVE) DVD and GI Joe collection and pretty much do nothing. We have no TV in the bedroom and I have grown up falling asleep with it on so I am completely new to the whole no tv in the bedroom thing. Lets just say that it sucks having to sit there and stare at the clock for about 1 1/2 hours and what sucks even more is that when I finally start to drift off to sleep the massive snore-a-thon from his side of the bed starts. Thats when I give up on sleeping and read your blog post for post. Lets just say I am slightly obsessed.
Glad I can help you out. ;)
Love the kick of vinegar to give this dessert added dimension! I’ve been on the farm all weekend eating my weight in peach and apple cobblers. Love some good southern desserts! The only thing that could’ve made my weekend tastier would’ve been to tuck into a bowl of your blueberry crisp!
I love your writing, this cracked me up! I also love blueberries more than anyone can imagine, like I’ll sit down and eat an entire thing in one sitting, and don’t even get me started on fruit crisps! Best. Dessert. Ever!
I need to find me some blueberry balsamic! I have a thing for balsamic vinegar too.
That crisp looks crazy delicious!! Btw you crack me up.
Yum!! The blueberry + balsamic combo is so intriguing!
Love your blog! This one made me laugh at work! I cannot fall asleep without the TV on and usually think about what meals I’ll have the next day! I may be in love!
Thanks Chris!
Ok, we’re totally old but how can you not like watching the Kardashians!? Um and also, we love this balsamic blueberry moment. And the ice cream doesn’t look too terrible either…
TV at night is a must. BUT NEVER ESPN…they rerun the same clips all night long…I wake up repeating stats and feeling strangely un-refreshed.
And my husband and I are reformed living in sinners. It’s true. We married when my son was 1 1/2…for a long time I resisted, thinking that being all Kurt and Goldie was ultra glamorous and sophisticated. But then I realized that if I was washing someones dirty socks, I kind of wanted a big sparkly ring. So…yeah. It was a good choice.
Gorgeous dessert as always…your creativity amazes me!! xoxo
I would not wash dirty socks without something sparkly either!
I LOVE crisps and crumbles, but Tony is not a fan. It weirds me out how much Tony and I are alike on most things, but really this should have been a deal breaker! Seriously, how could you not like this? It looks perfect Jessica!
Divine dessert for summer!
Huge, huge pet peeve of mine – sleeping with the TV on. Did you know your quality of sleep decreases by like, 80 percent when you do that?!?
OK maybe I just exaggerated, but I swear I sleep worse.
#thisiswhyimsingle
No, you are right! I want to sleep with it off but I am a big scaredy cat.
This looks amazing, I love balsamic anything!
My hubs won’t let us have a tv in our bedroom so I have to dvr and get my trashy tv fix when he’s not around:D
tv goes off, i truly believe in that theory that it keeps the brain awake (the light) and you can’t fully get deep sleep or whatever they say.
that balsamic goes so well over ice cream (the really thick expensive kind….) have you tried that one? so good.
This looks amazing! BLUEBERRY balsamic vinegar? Sounds great for straight-up bread dipping too!
Haha I love how you just realized your passion for food. It’s a wonderful thing embrace it!
Wow, I’m so very intrigued by this yumminess. Must get me some of that blueberry balsamic.
Thoroughly enjoyed this post!!! “the cat’s meow” hahahaaa We used to have a TV in the bedroom, but got rid of it about 3yrs ago and man is it fabulous. Chris always had issues falling asleep, even as a kid [just takes him FORever], so he would turn the TV on, then off, then try to sleep, then back on, etc. It didn’t bother me being on, but once we got rid of it, he actually slept much better. And so did I, because I didn’t say up that extra hour to watch back to back episodes of friends. It’s kind of funny in the new house, because we could actually watch the TV in the family room from our bed. :)
I half live in sin, I suppose. I actually never slept with the TV on, but now I do. Fortunately, my boyfriend hasn’t gotten too old yet. I watch them on my computer while he snores.
And yes, I cannot watch scary movies anymore, because I watched one about aliens months ago, and for at least 3 months was terrified I would be abducted at 3 am! I cannot even believe I just wrote that.
I swear scary things are just much more conceivable in the middle of the night!
I can’t watch scary movies anymore either. What’s up with that!?
It’s sad, because I actually like them. Instead, my maturity is just reverting backwards.