A FAST AND EASY WAY TO PEEL PEACHES

I've seen this method a couple of times the last few years but never actually tried it until now. I was going to make a peach cobbler and thought it was now or never. This is an excellent way to peel a bunch of peaches quickly and easily.

It really did make peeling the peaches easy without really using a knife. AND you don't lose any of the delicious peach either like you do when you use a peeler or knife.

All you need to do is bring a "deep-enough" pot filled with water to boil. Deep enough that is to completely submerge the peach.

Using a slotted spoon, carefully drop the peach in the boiling water and set your timer for 1 minute.



While it is boiling, prepare a "deep-enough" bowl with ice water.

When the timer goes off, remove peach from the boiling water with the slotted spoon and

carefully drop it in the ice water.






Set the timer again for 1 minute. (I also dropped another peach in the boiling water at this time. After doing this several times, I realized the peach will keep in the ice water longer. This is to stop the cooking from the boiling water. When the peach feels cold, the peeling comes off without much effort at all.)

Remove the peach from the ice water and carefully pull back the peeling.

You may or may not need to knife to get yourself started.

Now obviously you can do more than one peach at a time and do it a lot faster than it took me to peel the four peaches I used in my cobbler. I had my system going (since this was my first time) and I wanted to see if the 1 minute was the right time. I could easily peel and then slice the peach for the cobbler in the 1 minute while one was in the hot water and one in the ice water.

Don't forget to check out the Fresh Peach Kuchen I made. 




While I was mixing it up, I had my water boiling and did 5 peaches at a time. 

Boiling the 1 minute....

In the cold water for a few minutes (You don't have to time this part. The peeling will actually come off easier, if the peach is cold)....

Peeled....








If you cut along the indention on the peach, you will be able to remove the pit easily and have two perfect halves. 

If you would like to see how to freeze the peaches in slices to use in recipes later, check out this earlier post HERE.

LAZY WIFE'S DINNER

Susan Blank from Narvon, PA called this casserole Lazy Wife's Dinner in Wanda E. Brunstetter's The Best of Amish Friends Cookbook Collection. If I were naming it, I would have named it Busy Wife's Dinner because I prepared it on a day when I was very busy - not lazy. Because I had been busy all day, I finally became lazy while it baked. So maybe that's what she was thinking.

I was a little concerned when I saw it only had 1 cup of cooked meat. I thought about doubling it, but Friend Fran suggested I just make it like the recipe and then see. So that is what I did. Everything worked out fine, but my husband did comment that it didn't have much meat in it. Later when we warmed it up to eat leftovers, I added some more of the cooked ground beef to it and he thanked me. Probably will double the meat the next time. I will leave it up to you.

LAZY WIFE'S DINNER

1        cup diced raw potatoes (I used sweet potatoes)
1        cup diced carrots
1        cup cooked meat (I used ground beef)
1        cup uncooked macaroni
3       tablespoons chopped onion
1        can cream of chicken, mushroom, or celery soup (I did use cream of chicken)
1-1/2 cups frozen vegetables (I read it mixed vegetables and that is what I used)
1-1/2 cups milk
1         cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients and pour into baking dish. Bake covered, for 1-1/2 hours.

It warms up nicely in the microwave for leftovers, too.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ever so often, I decide to bake cookies to share with the volunteers at Hillcrest Thrift Shop on Tuesdays when I work my shift at the register downstairs. I chose this recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies because it said it makes 3 dozen cookies. Well, I made 5 dozen cookies. I took 3 to the shop and kept 2 dozen in our cookie jar which I think pleased my husband. They are so good that they are very tempting for me though...too tempting. They were a big hit at the thrift shop which always makes me happy. I would hate to take them something that didn't turn out tasty.

I found the recipe in an interesting book I bought at an estate sale called As You Like It - recipes and photographs from the Williamstown Theatre Festival Family in Williamstown, MA. While I may not recognize all of the actors' names who contributed the recipes, I do enjoy looking at the pictures of different plays and the actors - many whom I do recognize. According to a not on this recipe, "This recipe won the grand prize in The Orchards' 1987 Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest. It was first published in Winning at the Table by the Junior League of Las Vegas and then appeared in The Search for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie, by Gwen Steege, published by Storey Communications." 

The recipe was contributed to Chet Soling. Not familiar with his name, I decided to do a search on him and read his obituary from the New York Times. Chester Soling was an architect, real estate developer, and philanthropist and one of the things he did was build The Orchards hotel in Williamstown, MA. He died in 2010 at the age of 78. Reading that explained a little about the comment on the recipe.

The only change I would recommend is using more chocolate chips. I didn't have any semi-sweet chocolate chips and used 60% cacao chips, but quite a few cookies didn't have any chocolate chips in them.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1-3/4      cups flour
1/4          teaspoon baking soda
1              cup butter, softened
1              teaspoon vanilla extract
1              cup sugar
1/2          cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I just used light brown sugar)
1              egg
1/3          cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2             tablespoons milk
1              cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used walnuts)
6             ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips (I used 60% cacao chips.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with foil.

Combine the flour and baking soda and set aside.

Use an electric mixer to cream the butter.

Add the vanilla and sugars and

beat until fluffy.

Beat in the egg.

At low speed, beat in the cocoa and

then the milk.

(Scrape the sides of the bowl often.)

With a spoon, mix in the dry ingredients until

just blended.

Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet. (I used my tablespoon cookie scoop.)

Bake for 12 - 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool 1 minute before

removing the cookies to cool on wire rack.

And be prepared for the bestest cookie ever.

FRESH STRAWBERRY CRISP

I finally got around to making this incredibly delicious Fresh Strawberry Crisp again - this time just for us to enjoy. I saw the recipe on my friend Julie's blog Brick and Mortar Dreams. I ended up making a single serving for Friend Sandy's husband, Ed, when the Bridge Couples met at our house last month. I made a dessert(Strawberry Cream Cheese Icebox Cake) that had dairy in it, and Ed has issues with dairy. If I do this, I always try to have something nondairy for him, so he can also enjoy dessert. Well, he loved it and told me several times how good it was. I kept thinking I would make it for us, but just never got around to it.

Better late than never, I always say. And nothing could be more appropriate for this dessert. We are trying to reduce our sugar intake so I used stevia for the sugar on the fresh strawberries. We are also trying to avoid enriched flour so I looked for a different recipe for the topping. I found one using rice krispies cereal but couldn't find the cookbook I saw the recipe in. (I thought I had written it down, but if I did, I can't find it now.) I finally found the one I used in Miriam Miller's The Wooden Spoon Cookbook. It was the topping for her Streusel Apple Pie. (Recipe for the pie part - 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups sliced apples. Toss apples in the sugar mixture and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Prepare topping and sprinkle over the filling. Bake for 40 minutes or until topping is brown and apples are tender in a 400 degree F oven.) I will have to give it a try.

Use gluten-free oats if you have a gluten issue.

FRESH STRAWBERRY CRISP

4       cups hulled and quartered fresh strawberries (almost 32 oz of strawberries)
1/4    cup stevia or sugar (I used stevia)
2       tablespoons cornstarch

1        cup old fashioned oats
1/4    cup brown sugar blend or 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2    teaspoon cinnamon
1/2    cup chopped pecans
1/3    cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the stevia and cornstarch in a small bowl and

then toss strawberries in it a little at a time.

Spread strawberry mixture into an 8 - inch square baking dish.

Combine oats, brown sugar blend, cinnamon, and pecans in a medium sized bowl.

Add butter and

stir to combine.

Sprinkle topping evenly over the strawberries.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Serve warm alone or with a little whipped topping or ice cream. (We just ate ours plain and enjoyed the taste of the strawberries.)

When I made a smaller portion for Ed, I did use Julie's recipe for the topping - I just portionally reduced the amounts. I did omit the oats because at that time they were not listed in the ingredients. Ed loved it. I didn't take a picture of it, but I did add a scoop of non-dairy whipped topping.

You can see Julie's recipe HERE. I think you could use frozen strawberry slices if you can't find fresh strawberries in the grocery store. I would buy unsweetened ones.