Just plum delicious.

Some of the best finds (in the kitchen and otherwise) are unintentional. One of my favorite childhood books was Mistakes that Worked, a book about everyday objects created by accident: Post-It Note adhesive was intended to be a super-strong glue that ended up being a perfectly weak one that was cleanly removable. At the unusually warm 1904 World's Fair, the ice cream cone was born because the frozen confectioner ran out of serving dishes, and his entrepreneurial waffle-maker neighbor rolled up a cone-shaped cup. Probably my favorite, chocolate chip cookies were the result of a baker not having enough chocolate for chocolate cookies and hoping the dispersed chunks would melt and permeate the cookie while baking (thank goodness they didn't).

My dessert discovery tonight was hardly genius, but it was certainly the product of using what I had on hand and rescuing about a dozen over-ripe plums. Feeling too lazy to make a pastry crust but still wanting a crunchy, buttery hat for my baked fruit, I opted for a crumble topping. I was able to use up a random handful of rolled oats and some nearly-stale sliced almonds that had both been haunting my pantry for a couple months. Mixing up my topping, I spied a bottle of Port I had left on my counter after making this chicken for dinner, so I added a dash to the plums for an even richer flavor.

The end result was deliciously tart and juicy. So juicy, in fact, that much of the crumble crust sank into a ruby-colored magma, which resulted in another delightful surprise -- the sunken crumble was pleasantly chewy, and the surface crumbs were still crunchy.

Just goes to show that you don't necessarily need to run to the grocery store to put together a bang-up dish. Don't be afraid of substitutions or not having a recipe...I'll often open up a recipe similar to what I'm trying to make, just so I have cook times and temperatures for reference, but for the most part, feel free to let your stomach be your guide.

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Plum Crumble
(I made two since I had about a cup and a half of plums, halved -- you can scale up to make a larger crumble, but I like the individual ones myself)

Amounts are all scant:
2 T unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c rolled oats
2-3 T brown sugar
pinch of coarse salt
dash of cinnamon
1/2 c toasted sliced almonds

1 1/2 c mini plums, halved
zest from one lemon
2 T sugar (you may need more or less, depending on how sweet your fruit is)
1 T Port
1 t cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375*F. Butter two one-cup ramekins. Mix halved plums with lemon zest, sugar, and Port, and set aside. Meanwhile, mix flour, oats, brown sugar, almonds, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix with melted butter until clumps form, and refrigerate until ready to use.

After the fruit has had 5-10 minutes to marinate, add the cornstarch, then fill the buttered ramekins. Split crumble topping evenly between the two, and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbling juice looks thickened and topping is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve.