peaches

I planned on splitting one 20# box with a friend. Circumstances & misunderstandings left me with one and a half 20# boxes.

Starting early in the morning, I dutifully blanched 20#s in one day. It took hours just for that step.

Blanching is supposed to make the skins easier to remove. Ha! I'd say 25% of them were easy to remove. Maybe I need to work on my blanching skills. In any event, blanching 20#s of peaches in my tiny kitchen was quite the feat!

First up was cardamom peach pie filling. Then I went to my two favorite peach jams: peach cardamom jam, and peach jam with brown sugar and rum.

But I still had so many more blanched peaches leftover! So I dug into my fridge and found about 2 cups of raspberries that had been macerating in sugar for awhile. I used those to make a peach jam with raspberries. So much jam was made that day! Everyone is getting jam for presents. Maybe I'll take some jars to school and put them on the staff table with a "free to a good home" sign. I still have about 5#s left (I sent a few peaches home with anyone who would take them).

Let this be a reminder to me for next summer: small batch canning. Small batch. No one needs 30#s of fruit all at once.

mixer love

As a combined Christmas and Birthday present (thanks Irene, Mom & Dad!) I'm now the proud owner of a Kitchenaid stand mixer. The color is canopy green, and it mixes like a champ. I tried it out this week with two recipes: healthy oatmeal bars (I used semi-sweet and cinnamon chips), and my staple breakfast muffins. My parents sent me a pouring shield that helps keep the mess inside the mixer bowl (very useful for a messy person like myself).

A couple years ago I experimented with combining various muffin recipes to get something that was healthier, more filling, and used a limited number of measuring cups. At this point I can't remember which recipes I started with, but here's what I came up with:

Wet: 

(can sub applesauce, pureed pumpkin, etc for the oil and water)

• 2 cups water
• 0.5 cup vegetable oil
• 1.5 cups plain yogurt or milk
• 2 eggs

Dry:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (can sub 0.5 cup wheat germ)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup wheat bran (or oatmeal)
• 1 cup ground flax seed
• 1 cup sugar (I usually only use 0.5 cup these days)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Add-ins:

• 1 chopped granny smith apple
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves)

Baking Instructions:

Bake at 400 degrees F for 30-40 minutes.

Makes two trays of jumbo sized muffins (12 total), or two trays of regular muffins (24 total).

I've saved some of those clam-shell containers from the grocery store that store 4 jumbo muffins, and I use them to store my muffins in the fridge (remember: no preservatives in these!). I prefer to bake the jumbo size muffins because one jumbo muffin is perfect for breakfast. I'll usually eat a hard-boiled egg with it and that lasts me through the morning until lunchtime.

Warning: these muffins have quite a bit of fiber in them!

butter chicken

My recipe for butter chicken (adopted from PioneerWoman's recipe). Basically I doubled the spices and added cornstarch to thicken. Otherwise it's the same.

Combine and marinate overnight:
4-6 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 whole lime juiced

1 whole onion, diced
1/4 cup butter
1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
1 pint whipping cream (I only use half a pint, but you can use a whole)
cornstarch
chopped cilantro, to taste
basmati rice

Saute onion in butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. I drained off the liquid after this step. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Combine whipping cream with cornstarch to thicken, then add to chicken mixture. Serve over rice and top with cilantro.

peach salsa

First you need some peaches.


I used three and a half in order to get six cups (don't worry, the other half found a good home).


Add some chopped onion, red bell pepper and jalapeno.


Oh, and don't forget the cilantro.


Add some vinegar and honey, and give it a good stir.


Raw pack into jars, filling all the way to the top (it cooks down).


Process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.


This recipe yielded 4 pints of salsa. I was worried about spiciness, so I didn't add the jalapeno seeds. My salsa turned out very high on the tasty scale, but very low on the spiciness scale. So next time I'll add the seeds.

Peach Salsa
6 cups pitted peaches, diced
1 1/4 cup diced onion (I just used a whole onion)
4 jalapeno peppers, diced (seed these if you don't want it too spicy)
1 bell pepper, preferably red, diced and seeded (though any color will suffice)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or 1/4 c dried
3/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoon honey

This peach salsa recipe is from a Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op blog post.

Halloween 2009

Just a quick post to share some pictures.

Friday I made a double-batch of my favorite cookies. (recipe at the bottom)


I love fall baking. Mostly because I love using these spices.


These cookies stay amazingly moist, and disappear quite quickly.


And because Halloween is just not Halloween without some pumpkin carving/decorating, I humbly submit the following...

My husband's R2D2 pumpkin.


And my winky pumpkin.


Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and sugars. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

I can't remember where I found this recipe, but it is amazing.

What is your favorite thing to bake in the Fall?