If you read about crumbles (that's what I have been trying to make) or crisps, they're usually covered with a streusel topping made with flour, sugar and butter, often flavored with cinnamon, and sometimes with nuts or oats added. To make streusel, the ingredients are simply rubbed together until coarse crumbs form. Streusel is also often sprinkled over muffins, coffee cakes and pies.

A crisp (also known as a crumble in the UK and other parts of Europe) is a fruit dessert—often featuring apples in the fall and berries in the summer—that's topped with an oat-flecked streusel that is baked until crisp and golden brown, thus the name.

A crumble is very similar, but the streusel often doesn't contain oats.

The fruit base of a cobbler is similar to a crisp or crumble but instead of streusel, it has a biscuit-like topping that is dolloped over the fruit and bakes with it.

So far, I have not had success in making my ideal crumble. If you have a recipe that you have had success with and want to share with everyone in the newsletter, let us know.

I have included a couple of recipes in the newsletter today.

And a cobbler is not to be confused with the cocktail cobblers, which originated in the early 1800s. To make the drink, fill a goblet or a Collins glass with shaved ice and top with 3 ounces claret, sauternes, sherry, port, rum or whiskey. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and stir. Decorate with fruit and a sprig of mint.

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The goal is to make a pie without the making the crust. All you need to do is mix and put it in the oven!

You can use this topping with any fresh fruit. And it works perfectly with frozen blueberries. The polenta adds a little crunch and in the process adds some serious roughage if you are in need of such. Getting some blueberries and roughage in a dessert is a pretty good deal!

See the Fruit Crisp Polenta Topping Recipe here!

This recipe is from Marian Burros fabulous cookbook, Cooking for Comfort. If you want recipes that are delicious every time and remind you of the food you ate growing up (or not) this is a cookbook to include in your pantry!

See the easy Apple Almond Crisp Recipe here!

Pear (get it?) apple and sweet potatoes together to make a more savory fruit crisp.

See the easy Sweet Potato and Apple Crisp Recipe here!

Moretti Bramata Coarse Yellow Polenta is a traditional Italian cornmeal that is coarsely ground to create a rustic texture. It is made from high-quality, non-GMO, stone-ground yellow corn and is commonly used in Italian cuisine to make various dishes such as polenta cakes, fries, and porridge.

This polenta is produced by the Moretti family, who have been milling corn since 1922. The corn is grown in the Po Valley, a region in northern Italy known for its fertile land, which produces some of the best corn in the country.

Moretti Bramata Coarse Yellow Polenta is versatile and can be cooked in many different ways. To prepare it, simply add the polenta to boiling water, stir continuously for about 40-45 minutes until it reaches a creamy consistency. You can then serve it as a side dish, topped with cheese, meat sauce, or vegetables.

This polenta is also gluten-free and contains no preservatives or artificial colors.

Shop here for Bramata Coarse Yellow Polenta!

A great alternative to French fries—and much more beautiful (because we eat with our eyes, too)! Here we suggest dipping them into a tomato-based sauce—like a marinara sauce or a Classic Smoky Romesco Sauce—as an appetizer. But, it's just as easy to eat them "plain" as a switch from French fries.

See the easy Fried Yellow Polenta Sticks Recipe here!

We have seen so many hot sauces over the last 20 years. The basic elements to make one are simple. Take a natural ingredient that is just plain hot to the mouth like (and mostly) peppers. These peppers (of all kinds) make heat and when cooked and combined they create a palate of fire.

Keep in mind a good sauce is not only about blowing out your mouth (in fact that's not what it should do), it is about turning on your sensory system so your mouth is at the height of its awareness. You often taste things you never knew you could when the heat is turned up.

Now, we aren't one of those people that carries toothpaste and tabasco when we travel, slathering hot sauce over everything even before we taste (akin to the "salter", who always salts before), but we do like heat added to a dish when it is called for.

There are a zillion hot sauces out there and each and every one has a dedicated following. We have tried only 1/2 a zillion of them (that's a lot of burn) and we like just a handful.

It is with this cautionary experience that we carefully choose to taste any hot sauce. We don't like our lips or cheeks to burn unnecessarily.

Like homemade beer and trendy chocolate, hot sauces are often just hot and rarely special. These "Haute Sauces" are very special.

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The first "bite", so to speak, of the Habanero Carrot Curry sauce was a pleasant, albeit fiery, taste that evolved from the flavor of carrot to a hot burn to a finish of more flavors including turmeric and curry, all the whilst the heat is subsiding!

Combine my favorite Haute Sauce, the Habanero Carrot Curry with our coconut milk and you have the perfect easy dip for some beautiful shrimp!

Taste test to get the ratio to the way you like it. Start with 1 Haute to 1 coconut cream and then add more cream. Or, if too hot is not your thing, start with 3 cream to 2 Haute and then add Haute to get it up to temp.

Shop Now for Marshall's Habanero Carrot Curry Haute Sauce!

We taste-tested all the coconut milks we could find at the grocery store, and this pure coconut cream takes the cake. Real coconut flavor and no guar gum or added sugar. The next best thing to shredding and squeezing your own.

Coconut milk and coconut water have been touted as exceptionally, unbelievably good for you. We don't know about that, but we do know that our coconut milk is fabulous! It consists of just two ingredients: coconut kernel extract and water. That's it.

Filled with lots of B vitamins and other good stuff, coconut milk is a versatile and surprisingly useful ingredient to have in your essential pantry.

Coconut milk is essential for desserts such as coconut cream pie, coconut cupcakes, coconut hot white chocolate, and of course, coconut ice cream.

It is a wonderful ingredient in savory dishes as well. Think of Thai Curry for your shrimp, coconut rice (if you use coconut milk to cook the rice) or a wonderful curry garlic pepper milk sauce for your fresh fish!

Shop Now for Coconut Milk - Coconut Cream!

Want to make your own spicy shrimp dip! Then this is the recipe for you!

See the Spicy Mustard Shrimp with Coconut Recipe here!

This mustard seed oil is amazing. A common ingredient in Indian cooking, it has a real spicy kick—which might take a little getting used to. But, like many amazing and unique ingredients out there—once you get used to mustard oil, you cannot live without it.

The health benefits of mustard seed oil abound: This cold pressed mustard seed oil is rich in Omega 3 & 6, rich in vitamins A, E and Beta-carotene, naturally cholesterol free, high in polyunsaturated fats (contains only 5.5% saturated fat), one of the lowest rates of any oil. Add to that a high burn temperature and a very long shelf-life—and you have a healthy and versatile cooking oil.

Known for its spicy flavor, it is a favored ingredient in India and Australia. You can use mustard oil for cooking like you would any oil, although it is most often used in frying. Try pan-frying your next trout, it will be amazing.

Shop Now for Spicy Mustard Seed Oil!

A classic Spanish Tapas with a Moroccan twist: this is a simple way to add more flavorful Chermoula into your diet, and it's as simple as can be.

This recipe calls for medium shrimp, but it can easily be made with bigger shrimp. Use Rice Bran Oil for frying and finish with olive oil flavor by drizzling it on afterwards.

Dip the warm shrimp in Chermoula or swirl in with long pasta. Then dip a fork in the chermoula and draw it over the pasta and shrimp.

See the Gambas al Pil-Pil with Chermoula Dip Sizzling shrimp with garlic Recipe here!

Though there is not a lick of meat in here, the instant memories evoked are every great smoked, grilled or BBQ protein you have ever had! What a masterpiece of delicious flavor!

And as your flavor mind comes up with a zillion ideas of what to do, your confidence soars and you feel perfectly in control of your next masterpiece!

What is Chermoula? So many things, it is, and its uses vary from a marinade, to a sauce, to a dip. And from the many unlimited uses it evokes, it has exponentially more recipe variations!

Chermoula is a marinade, sauce or dip that originated from North Africa, particularly Morocco. It is usually made with a blend of herbs (such as cilantro and parsley), spices (like cumin and paprika), garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Every cook, chef, home, and region has its own version in North Africa.

With Moroccan roots, it is full of flavorful fun, not spicy and not offensive at all! One taste and it will remind you of some dish you've had before. Chermoula evokes the best from your fish dish, pimp up your Pil-Pil shrimp recipe, or simply join hands with your favorite tuna fish sandwich! Add it to your favorite vegetable tangine or dip your cold veggies! It is so easy to use!

Shop Now for Villa Jerada Chermoula!

When trying, testing, creating a recipe (in this case, a very old recipe), it is intimidating because you never know what the outcome will be. And, with a recipe that has a history, you want to do it justice!

This recipe is all about using Pink Champagne Biscuits in a simple way that is festive and easy to do.

See the Strawberry Charlotte with Rose Biscuits Cake Recipe here!

A nice candied fruit to add to your fruit breads and pastries!

Shop now for Italian Candied Citron Peel in Cubes!