Glutenfree rhubarb and strawberry crumble pie + feeling lost in social media

I’ve always been that girl who doesn’t care about what other people think. I’ve been doing my thing whether others like it or not. But this past winter something weird happened. All of a sudden I began to feel so insecure regarding what I do, what I create. I’ve been struggling to find my creative voice, I’ve constantly compared myself to others and I’ve not been sure what to focus on. I’ve been feeling that I want to do it all and as a consequence I’ve been stuck and done nothing.

When I started this blog a little over 2 years ago I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to live my Nordic life and share seasonal recipes and take Nordic (aka moody and rustic) photos, hence the name The Nordic Kitchen. It was all so clear to me and I loved it.

But this winter I started to doubt it all. All of a sudden I wanted to do the exact opposite thing. I wanted to do something else. Share other things.

A few weeks ago I didn’t know what to do anymore. So I talked to my boyfriend (he’s also my best friend) about it, about what we want to do, what’s important to us. And just like that, everything was so obvious. I realized that I want to do exactly what I’ve always wanted. I want to share my Nordic lifestyle, my seasonal recipes and my moody photos from the Swedish countryside.

The more we talked, the more I realized what has really happened to me during the winter. While it was dark 24/7 in Sweden I became so susceptible to other peoples’ photos on social media. I too wanted to wear summer clothes, eat acai bowls on a beach and I don’t know what else. I was never influenced by people like this ever before, but something happened and I still don’t know what. Other peoples’ photos got me questioning my beliefs, my creativity and my passion. As I talked with Kalle about it, it became so clear to me. So, I decided to unfollow a few people (all very talented indeed, but not the right accounts for me) and take a some time off from blogging and social media. I started reading my old journals to find the core values I once wrote down for my blog. I read them, decided to start fresh with a new notebook and wrote down my values once again. It felt so right. It was me. It was The Nordic Kitchen. 

While I was offline I also decided to print a few of my favorite photos that all had that Nordic feel I’ve always wanted in my photos. Some good old scrapbooking later and I had created a notebook for myself to come back to, whenever I feel like I’m drifting off. I love to learn new things, explore new cultures and get inspired, but I don’t ever wanna lose my creativity or self-esteem again. However, I have to say that I’ve learned quite a lot about myself during this little adventure. I now know for sure what’s important to me, what I want and what I want The Nordic Kitchen to be. I want it to be what it has always been, simple as that. Because, in the end, my blog is a reflection of who I am and I don’t wanna change who I am. You know? Perhaps it’s good to reflect on what we do every now and then, just to make sure we never forget what we truly care about. I don’t know.

Can you relate to any of this and what do you think about being influenced by others like this? 

Now, let’s make a nice transition and start talking about pie, shall we? The reason I want to share this recipe with you guys is because it was the first thing I decided to make once I had found my way back to blogging and what I want my blog to be. So, even though it could seem like a random recipe, it’s not. Rhubarbs and strawberries are as Nordic as it gets. They are symbols of the Swedish summer and so is eating pie outdoors in the sun. So, let’s have some pie!

This rhubarb and strawberry crumble is free from gluten, dairy, eggs and refined sugar and it’s so, so good. Promise me that you’ll try this recipe!

Glutenfree rhubarb and strawberry crumble pie

1 pie / 4-6 servings 

Filling

250 g strawberries
500 g rhubarbs
1/2 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp birch sugar or coconut sugar

Crumble

2 dl glutenfree rolled oats
1 dl glutenfree flour mix
1/2 dl birch sugar or coconut sugar
80 g non flavored coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 225°C.

2. Start with the filling. Rinse and chop rhubarbs and strawberries.

3. Mix with potato starch, cinnamon and birch sugar (or coconut sugar).

4. Grease a pie tin with non flavored coconut oil and add the filling.

5. Mix coconut oil, oats, flour and birch sugar to a nice crumble.

6. Spread the crumble over the rhubarbs and strawberries and bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes.

7. Let cool a little and then serve with vanilla ice cream.