
A month or so ago I was inspired by my kids’ small graduation gathering to start baking again. After that, the “bug” quickly took over and my husband saw that light in my eyes, and smiling said, “Oh oh.” He knew that within a few weeks my weekends would be filled with pots, baking pans, butter, sugars, eggs, nuts, my scale and my faithful flour, all displayed on our kitchen island and dining room table.
He wasn’t wrong. And with the idea of sharing baked goods with neighbors and friends I felt that I had no limit. In the meanwhile our daughter moved into her dorm, ten days ago, and our older son, who had been home for the summer, went back to NYC. We went from three children at home to one within a week.
Friends attributed my “baking up a storm” to empty nesting. They might be right, though I don’t feel sad by my kids’ leaving our home. I grew up with the poem On Children of Kahlil Gibran hanging in our kitchen, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself….You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth….” In all honesty it makes me very happy that they are living their lives and taking steps to learn and be on their own, figuring out who they are.
I guess I just feel that I have more time available and fewer obligations during the weekend. Though, I might be denying what it seems all American mothers experience when their kids leave their home. Whatever the reason, I do enjoy my time baking, and I hope you do too.
This recipe is a gluten-free adaptation from the Spiced Apple and Cream Crumb Bars in the last issue of Bake from Scratch.