Summer Entertaining · From the Porch
The Night the Summer Sang and Dinner Was Perfect…
On good friends, porch entertaining, a grilled summer dinner, and a rhubarb crisp straight from the garden.
There are evenings that arrive quietly and leave you changed. The air has a quality — warm but not heavy, humid enough to carry the smell of the garden, with a breeze that moves through just often enough to remind you you’re alive. The candles hold their flame. The chorus of a summer night begins. And you remember that this — right here — is exactly what summer is for.
This was one of those evenings. There is truly nothing better than a long evening that refuses to end — good wine, beautiful food, and friends who settle in and stay; it is one of the simple joys we strive to create again and again on this porch.
We kept the menu intentional and unfussy — the kind of food that lets the conversation breathe. A grilled dinner, the kind where the smoky smell drifts out to meet your guests before they reach the door. Simple sides from what the garden and pantry offered. And for dessert, I had fresh rhubarb. Brilliant red stalks I’d cut that morning, still cool from the shade.
What I didn’t know until I started planning was that our friend is gluten-free. And so the rhubarb crisp became a small act of intention — built entirely around what he could eat, layered with flavors that felt like a warm hand on a shoulder.
Porch Entertaining Done Right
The best hosting isn’t about the table setting or the menu complexity. It’s about making people feel thought of. That night, it meant knowing that dessert needed to be gluten-free — and making sure it was so delicious that no one at the table would know the difference unless you told them.
The crisp came together with gluten-free rolled oats, Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour, and arrowroot to thicken the filling. But what made it truly special were the layers of flavor: cardamom in both the rhubarb filling and woven through the oat topping, a generous hand with cinnamon, and the bright lift of fresh lemon and zest underneath all of
We served it warm, barely out of the oven, with organic vanilla bean ice cream melting softly over the top — and a drizzle of maple syrup we’d made ourselves, stirred with a pinch of cinnamon. The kind of dessert that makes the table go quiet in the best possible way.
He took one bite and looked up — and just like that, the entire table agreed: it was the best rhubarb crisp any of us had ever had. The combination of flavors was simply incredible. Gluten-free? You would never know.
We sat on the porch long after the plates were cleared. That particular chorus that only happens on the warmest, most still evenings in the summer filled the air around us. The candles had burned low. The maple syrup drizzle had done its work.
That is the gift of the table. Not to fix anything. Just to offer a place where good food and good company do their quiet work — where fresh rhubarb from the garden becomes an act of love, and where the sounds of a Minnesota summer night do the rest.
May your porch evenings this summer be filled with good people, the right kind of quiet, and something warm from the oven.
Gluten-Free Garden Rhubarb Crisp
Serves 6–8 · 350°F · 30 Minutes
Ingredients
For the Rhubarb Filling:
5 cups fresh organic rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
2 tbsp Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 GF Baking Flour
1 tsp ground cardamom
For the Crisp Topping:
1½ cups gluten-free rolled oats
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp ground cardamom
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
To Serve:
Organic vanilla bean ice cream
Pure maple syrup + pinch of cinnamon, for drizzling
Method:
Preheat the Oven: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Prepare the Filling: Toss the rhubarb with sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, arrowroot powder, gluten-free flour, and cardamom until evenly coated. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
Make the Crisp Topping: Combine the oats, brown sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon in a bowl. Work in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture forms coarse, clumpy crumbles.
Assemble the Crisp: Scatter the topping evenly over the rhubarb filling.
Bake: Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling around the edges.
Rest and Serve: Let the crisp rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with organic vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of maple syrup mixed with a pinch of cinnamon.
Fresh Roots Living Notes: The arrowroot gives the filling a beautiful glossy set. Cold butter is essential for a crisp, crumbly topping. Don’t be shy with the cardamom. It gives this crisp depth and warmth.
At some point, home stops being just where you live — and starts shaping how you live.
Sometimes that looks like a crowded calendar and rooms no one uses anymore. Sometimes it looks like realizing your favorite evenings are the simple ones: a porch dinner, candles lit, something warm from the oven, and people you love staying long after dark.
That question is at the heart of Cari Ann’s best-selling book, Are Your Roots Right? Rightsize Your Space. Reclaim Your Life.
It is not just about moving. It is about creating a home and a life that support the season you are actually living in now.
If you have been wondering whether your home still fits the life you want, this book is a thoughtful place to begin.
→ Learn more about Are Your Roots Right?
Cari Ann Carter is the best-selling author of Are Your Roots Right? Rightsize Your Space. Reclaim Your Life. and a multi-faceted entrepreneur with a passion for intentional living, design, and home.
She leads the Cari Ann Carter Group, bringing over 28 years of experience in real estate, design, build, and renovation, and is the creative voice behind DIY Designer Homestead.
Through Fresh Roots Living, she shares practical ideas for cooking, gardening, entertaining, and creating a home that supports your next chapter.