[Anna} The raspberries at the in-town house are fruiting crazy. I thought I would get enough to jam today but Bruce ate a cup while I was picking and then proceeded to eat another cup in the house while I was measuring. So now I'm making apricot-raspberry fruit crisp in the solar oven ... we've finally enough sunlight briefly I suspect during this very heavy monsoon. I've been getting a really nice oat flour crust/crisp/shortbread utilizing Jenny's (Ironwood Farm) tip on grating frozen butter. Perhaps a cup of raspberries will get into the freezer and maybe by the end of the season we'll have enough for a batch of jam. Usually Bruce eats all the pickings before they even get into the house though ... I'm posting the recipe I've made up but the ratios may be off since I never measure anything really. I know I filled the pan (a clay tortilla warmer that I've never used to warm tortilla but is heavenly to use in the solar oven) with apricots and mixed w/ the other filling ingredients. Then I sprinkled 1 c of raspberries on the top so they wouldn't get crusshed. I think the pan I use is 9". I may need to reduce the sugar in the fruit filling but it probably depends on the fruit being used.

Shortbread Cobbler

Fruit Filling: fruit to ½ fill pan, ½ c sugar, cinnamon, 2 T cornstarch

Dough: 1 cup oat flour, 1 t cinnamon,½ t salt,4 T brown sugar,1 t xantham gum,¾ stick frozen butter,9-10 T milk,½ c rolled oats,½ c chopped pecans

Preheat solar oven (or gas oven to 350).

  1. Mix fruit (e.g., apricot & raspberries) w/ sugar, cinnamon, & cornstarch in a 9” baking dish
  2. Mix oat flour, salt, xantham gum, brown sugar, & cinnamon.
  3. Grate butter into flour mix & toss.
  4. Put milk in 2 T at a time and toss with mix until you get a thick, doughy mix
  5. Drop by spoonfuls onto fruit until most of it is covered.
  6. Sprinkle the pecans over the top.
  7. Bake for 40 min (gas oven) to 1 ½ hours in solar oven (depending on sun)


I tried out the bumgenius cloth diapers with a doubler last night. No leaks, even after breakfast (he won’t let me touch the diaper until after nursing and eating). So I’m very excited. I decided to give up not buying AIO or pocket cloth diapers (since I don’t have the time or space to sew some) because he’s going to use the potty like he did before he turned one. I’m so sick & heartbroken using the disposables (plus they cost around $30-50 for the unbleached per month). So now that I bought the diapers maybe he’ll all of sudden decide he wants to use the potty again :)

I need to find the energy to hang laundry. We caught a cold at the Live/Learn Conference and I’m totally dragged out.

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