Category Archives: Food

Recipe inspirations and other ponderings

Yesterday I made a fairly quick and straightforward non-challenge recipe for dinner. I wanted to share it with you because it’s tasty and easy, but also to demonstrate how even someone who is not the strongest cook can have a lovely and fast meal made via inspiration.

I’ll undoubtedly post on this again. After all, somewhere in this house there’s a recipe for “Blueberry Hopeful” and that’s all about the disasters and the inspiration. Also, waiting in the wings is a post about peach compote, but this post got very long. So I’ve edited it and will post about peaches (again) later today or tomorrow.

All in all, I imagine folks who read this blog have picked up that I’m not the greatest cook, no matter how much I like food.… Continue reading →

My love/hate relationship with peaches (and other fruits of their ilk).

I’m beginning to think it’s time to get a category beyond “other” for non-recipe posts. We’ll see.

Peaches!

So, I didn’t go to the farmers’ market on Saturday (or Sunday). I’m not going today, and the one I go to tomorrow is fairly small, and the one farm which sold peaches has been out for a week or two already. I could, conceivably, get to another market tomorrow where my favorite peach seller sells, but it’s highly unlikely. So, from the sounds of it, I am done buying peaches for the season. This should save me some money (except that pears and apples are hitting the farm stands).

Here’s my problem. I love peaches, but they don’t love me back. Not that they make me sick, because they don’t.… Continue reading →

[37] Peaches & Crème Brûlée French Toast

Cover of Virginia Bed and Breakfast Cookbook by Melissa Craven

Did I mention I love peaches at any point on this blog? I’m sure I haven’t.

Oh, man, peaches. Peaches, peaches, peaches.

Unfortunately, the farmers at the farmers’ market tell me that peach season has basically ended. I might see another week of them, but I probably will not unless I go to a market tomorrow or Tuesday (basically, markets I don’t normally go to). So, I have some peaches I’ve frozen and a few fresh ones left with which to make this recipe again.

Which is good, because this recipe is a winner. Probably. It actually hasn’t quite worked out in my kitchen yet, but it’s getting there. We’ve made it twice, and both times it was quite tasty, but the texture left something to be desired.… Continue reading →

Cherry Pie (For Michelle)

This is the final pie we made for the rehearsal dinner. Dad specifically wanted cherry pie, so we made cherry pie. Frankly, as the father of the bride, he’d done a lot of work and had a lot of stress (and helped mom bake a LOT of cookies), so there wasn’t a chance we’d say no to any pie he wanted at this point. If he’d asked for the Zucchini-Apple Pie in the Pie Town Cookbook, he’d have gotten it.

Luckily, he asked for cherry pie. Lots of people (myself included) love cherry pie. And, assuming you do not decide it’s imperative to pit the cherries yourself, it’s also dead easy.

h2. Ingredients

2 pie crusts for a 9″ pie
2 cans cherry pie filling
1 egg white, beaten (Man, this is TOTALLY optional)

h2.… Continue reading →

[36] Peach Crumb Pie (pg 170)

I love peaches.

I love them straight, I love them in jam, I love them in pies, I love them in crumble, I love them in cobbler, I love them in main course meals.

I don’t think I could love peaches more if I had the Platonic Ideal of “peach” in my hand right now. But I’d try.

Also, my Grandmother L. loves peaches (in fact, we had a peach canning session days before this pie occurred). My mother’s favorite pie is peach pie.

Hence, making a peach pie was a no-brainer. (Actually, I was going to make two peach pies, but the peaches I had didn’t ripen fast enough, and then we ran out of pie crust dough, and we said, “Four pies is enough!”)… Continue reading →