By Week 502. Fall 2025. I am 42 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like cinnamon and falling leaves and this is my life. This is the life I built.
Tom made his trout on Friday, the way he does every Friday, and the fish was perfect, and the kitchen smelled like lemon and capers, and I sat at the table and ate fish that my partner caught and cooked and served, and the being-served is still a wonder after all these years.
Mason is 14 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 12 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made French onion soup this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
The French onion soup was its own thing — patient, layered, asking something of me — but when the week settled and the house already smelled like cinnamon and falling leaves, I wanted something that asked a little less and gave a little more. I had apples on the counter and the afternoon to myself, and a vegan apple crumble felt exactly right: the kind of recipe that doesn’t require anything of you except to show up and let the oven do its work, the same way this life has quietly asked me, week after week, just to keep showing up.
Vegan Apple Crumble
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 medium apples (such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and sliced
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or oat flour for gluten-free)
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (or vegan butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and lightly grease an 8x8-inch or similar baking dish.
- Prepare the apple filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with maple syrup, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon until evenly coated. Pour into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer.
- Make the crumble topping. In the same bowl, combine the rolled oats, flour, coconut sugar, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in the melted coconut oil and vanilla extract until the mixture resembles coarse, clumpy crumbs.
- Assemble. Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the apple layer, covering as much of the surface as possible.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 35–40 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the apple filling is bubbling around the edges.
- Rest and serve. Allow the crumble to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm on its own or with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 50g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 100mg