All things PEACH, including a pie

This is my summer of peach pie perfection. I am getting close! But first, a paean to the humble peach.

A good peach is really hard to beat. For starters, I adore their coloration. Peaches show that pinky-coral, yellow, and green marry winningly. Peaches are in a state of perennial blush, as if they are always in love and happy about it. 

I admire anything that continues to ripen once picked. It gives you a bit of stress-free leeway really. I mean, as much as anyone loves peaches, there are only so many of anything once can eat in a day. And so it's nice to know that a row of peaches sunning on a sill will be able to make you happy for many days on end.

Although I don't like to eat peach skin, I do love the way unpeeled peaches feel, especially if you've just picked them and they're still warm from the sun. They are soft, fuzzy in a lovely teddy-bearish way, firm but yielding (if not you've picked too soon, friend). They are irregularly shaped orbs of promise.

Peaches are great as is but they are also fabulous tossed in with more savory ingredients (see this wonderful salad of mine: Tomato, Peach, Chevre, and Herb Salad with Apple Vinaigrette) and grilled, roasted, stewed, and baked into things like pies and muffins. Two of my favorite ways to enjoy them cooked are in this Arugula Salad with Roasted Peaches, Pistachios, and Mozzarella, and simply grilled and topped with my Mint-Pistachio Pesto. 

Tomato, Peach, Chevre, and Herb Salad with Apple Vinaigrette

Mint-Pistachio Pesto

Heck, now that I've gone down the wormhole, I'm remembering how much I love these Ginger Peach Muffins and also my Grilled Peach Crostini. 

Grilled Peach Crostini

And the jam possibilities are endless!

to-be Brandied Peaches

Clearly, I have a thing for peaches. And I am not ashamed.

Back to the pie. I have, over the years, worked on what is, in my opinion, the best representation of a number of pies: blackberry, apple, coconut, pecan. This summer, I set my sights on their peach cousin, and I think I'm nearly there.

It is, like my others, simple. It lets the primary fruit shine bright which is what the best pies do. I use peaches, sugar, lemon, and spices but have upped the ante slightly by including an apricot or two for a marvelous bit of tang and some muscovado sugar for depth (muscovado is a dark, unrefined brown sugar with a high level of molasses {in both content and flavor}. I use cinnamon and ground ginger and am considering using nutmeg, but we'll see. Peach Pie!

Paired with my crust, salty and flaky and perfect, the peaches shine. Which is just how it should be. 

Funny kids, Muffins & BlogHer '14

At present, the boys are slithering around the house on their tummies -army crawl-style- attempting to elude the imaginary guys they're spying on, and I am slaving over a Pokémon badge case that Jack made from cardboard and colored foam sheets, extracting thin layers of cardboard with an X-acto knife so that Jack's handmade badges can nestle in each space snugly. I remain largely anti-Pokémon. I mean, I'm glad Jack is so enraptured with it and interested in learning the strategies of the game, but the more I've learned, the more I dislike its premise. Basically, the trainers run around capturing Pokémon against their will, 'training' them by being nice but not letting them go and then sticking them in Pokéballs until the little guys are forced to do their trainers' bidding which means fighting to the 'death.'

In any case, I'm worked my fanny off on this badge case which is just the humblest, grubby little creation you ever saw but whatever. Jack is proud, so I'm happy to help.

The kids built a Lego car while I shaved cardboard, and I overheard Oliver say, "I'm not being sarcastic, Jack. This is really awesome." Which almost made me fall off my stool, because what a disclaimer from a 5-year-old. Jack replied, with such modesty (and there I am being sarcastic), that "Well, my ideas and brain are really great sometimes." Good grief. What conversation.

I made some ginger peach muffins because I simply had to, and they totally hit the spot. Scrumptious!

Y'all, I realized about four days ago that I leave for BlogHer '14 this coming Thursday. I mean, I knew I was going, but the trip rushed up on me like my sneaky cat. I'm super excited! San Jose, here I come!

Jack and Tom are at a Pokémon playdate now -I kid you not- and Ol and I are off to read and then construct my AROMO desk as he found me out yesterday and now wants to be involved in the renovation. Hah!

Muffin-making morn

For hours this morning -yes, hours; we were up early- not a thing sounded appealing for breakfast. I nibbled on a fresh peach while I drank my coffee and got the boys ready for school, but until about 9am, I was at a loss. But then I saw one more peach in the fridge and thought, well, I'll make ginger peach muffins because the freezer stash needed replenishing anyway. While those were in the oven, I started getting more excited about a morning of muffins and decided to make one with apples. Y'all, this is a hit, and I will make this recipe all fall and thereafter as well. Click here for the recipe. I reduced some apple cider and then stirred into that (while still hot) so thinly sliced apple chunks. Meanwhile I made a vanilla-brown butter, whisked that with egg and buttermilk and stirred it into my flour mixture which contained lots of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg. I folded in the cider apples along with some of the reduced cider, and baked until golden. Sooo good. If T and I weren't going out to lunch -mid-week! such a rarity!- I'd eat more of these treats.

Per the usual, my muffin photography failed, so I took this pic in a "1960s" direction and actually think it improves things. Ginger Peach in the background, Apple Cider in the front.