I'm in Northern California. Peaches are a big thing in the American South, I think because Georgia produces some of the most lush peaches in the country.
I do have a great recipe! I assembled this recipe from a pie filling I love with a crisp recipe I got from Baking Illustrated. I pit and chop ~6 large ripe peaches, and toss them with granulated sugar (to taste), ~3 tablespoons tapioca starch, juice from 1 lemon, and a generous pinch of cinnamon. I let that sit while I prep the crisp topping. Blitz 6 tablespoons of AP flour, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor to blend. Cut 5 tablespoons of butter in 1/2 inch pieces, and add them to the food processor one at a time to blend. Add in 3/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (I like almonds or pecans) and blend for 4-5 pulses. The mixture should look like clumpy wet sand, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Put the peach mixture into an ovenproof pan, add the crisp topping over every nook of the peaches, and bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes. Serve immediately with ice cream of choice! I hope you do try a crisp recipe (even if it's not this one). It is such a satisfying way to enjoy summer peaches. And the crisp topping freezes amazingly, so you can make a double or triple batch at once and freeze whatever you don't use :)
OMG, I so NEEEEED to try this (also huge apologies for the delay) - thank you SO much for your message - the peaches in North California sound PHENOMENAL!!! xxx
Hi Steph, so glad you faced your fears and enjoyed the visit to Oxfordshire - agreed it’s a beautiful county, I’ve been to Woodstock and some of the villages are beyond chocolate-box perfect - I hope you will feel encouraged to get out more into the world and experience less anxiety about it in future. I empathise, following Covid and a nagging back injury that makes it difficult for me to sit for long periods, I’m reluctant to travel far by any means, especially car. The furthest from Chester I’ve managed, since 2019, is Manchester, so any talk of holidays terrifies me! 😢 I’ve only just read last week’s CC, been a bit distracted this week, but have you ever read a book called “Quiet” by Susan Cain? Brilliant book if, like me, you consider yourself an introvert and struggle with feeling that society in general “expects” you to be happy, bubbly, sociable etc etc at all times and at the drop of a hat. I found this book about 8 years ago after a lifetime of sensing that the extrovert people were having a better time of it, and that I didn’t really fit in. It gave me a whole new perspective on my personality and it helped me been more accepting of myself and it is something I no longer really beat myself up about. Comfortable in my own skin. A great book, recommended for anyone who can identify with those feelings. A few weeks back, Waterstones had a copy. Anyway, have a good week, enjoy the sun while it’s here (nice isn’t it, just a perfect temperature), and start planning another trip! 😄
Firstly, thanks so much for the support! You have absolutely hit the nail on the head there - 'chocolate box perfect'! I definitely feel a bit more confident to step out of my comfort zone a bit although it's funny how quickly you can slip back into old habits I find? I'm so sorry to hear about your back injury - that must be incredibly tough!
As for the book - you know what? I have this one - and you're right, it's so good isn't it? I read it a while back so could probably do with digging it out again, thank you so much for reminding me! The weather has been perfection hasn't it? I'm born for this precise climate! haha! Hope you are having a good start to the week and enjoyed the Bank holiday weekend! x
I'm happy to hear that you had such a great vacation. I'm glad you got to meet up with your friends. Congratulations to you for pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. I know how hard it can be too. Sending much love and hugs to you. xo
My favorite summer dish is peach crisp. The peaches are perfectly sweet and juicy, and the crisp is a nice textural balance to the mushy (in the best way!) peaches. And then you put some ice cream on top and it's perfect. It's one of the many reasons why I love summer :D
AHHHHH YES - do you mind me asking where your are based Becca? My Aunt is from Texas and I remember her telling me about peach ice cream that she was obsessed with as a kid... and come to think of it, I think my uncle talked about making a peach crisp too - maybe I need to give this a GO! Do you have a good recipe? Sending love x
That's awesome you had a good time. Like you, I am a homebody, but I always tell myself before a trip that my best memories are made when I try something new.
SOOOO true - also even if the experience is RUBBISH, you have stories to tell afterwards right? Sometimes though, I think society makes us believe we should be doing more and I tend to think there must be a sweet spot of doing enough to keep you're mind alive and excited by the world but not feeling you have to do EVERYTHING!
OKAYYYY... ELABORATE - I have never heard of this Wizardry - what is it? I'm going to Google....
Buttermilk pie is US South tradition and just the best pie ever when it's done correctly. The best recipes always include fresh lemon juice & zest + fresh nutmeg.
Hooray I’m so glad you had a lovely time!! It sounds magical and restorative, and I hope you have more opportunities to explore more new or old favorite places soon! Your bagels look great! I love how you just have a natural intuition with breads. Your experiments and thoughtful additions like the preferment are just delightful and amazing. The dishes I tend to bring to summer get togethers are focaccia (my trademark these days is a roasted garlic-infused and everything bagel seasoning-topped version) and a corn and black bean salad with chipotle-lime dressing. The salad is from the blog “Once upon a Chef” and is one of the dishes I get asked for the recipe the most! It’s very adaptable (I leave out the raw onion because I’m not a fan) and good as either a side or a chunky dip. I get a little burnt out of it by the end of the summer if I make it a few times and eat it for lunches for like a week, but by the following summer I’m craving it again!
Awh thank you! And yes - bread is my true love... I'm back on it again this week - I think I revert to type (aka bread is best) when I feel like I need pure comfort.
Focaccia is a no brainer for summer isn't it? The corn and black bean salad sounds fabulous - I think I may have stumbled across this recipe before you know? Haha - yes - I am guilty of making a recipe repeatedly and getting meal fatigue with it - I am such a creature of habit with so many things, strangely not so much with baking (I feel like I always need to be reinventing the wheel) but with main meals, I just eat a lot of things on repeat, preferring to opt for something that I know is safe and that will work? I am going to have to give this one a go anyway - thank you for the recommendation! x
A couple more notes: it tells you to use fresh corn and I have done it with fresh, but I usually use frozen corn for convenience and we can get frozen sweet corn year round, and I leave out the onion for my own preference. The cilantro (aka coriander leaves) is sometimes controversial since some people don’t like the taste and I’ve left it out for group events in case people are sensitive and found it tastes great without too, although I will splurge to get cilantro just for this dish when making for myself or with a cilantro-vetted group (fresh herbs always die an awful death in my fridge so I don’t usually buy them but will make exception for this dish and just put in way more cilantro in than it calls for to use it up lol). Also I don’t know if you have access to the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce where you are, it’s usually in the “international” aisle in the Mexican foods area for me here, but if you can’t find it, she has a link to a variation of this recipe with just a lime vinaigrette instead and I’m sure that is just as fabulous!! I hope you enjoy. I love this salad so much!
I love your travel writings. May put Oxfordshire on our list when we return to the UK. We've recently had two trips away, one planned and resulted in a much better than expected experience, the other closer by and spontaneous seeing a hilarious play about Shakespeare. Came home from both trips in a much better mental place. Inspired and ready to do it all over again. Have a great week. Hungry for a bagel!
YES YES YES - VISIT OXFORDSHIRE! Ahhh fantastic - it's great when you have positive experiences like that is't it? Somehow your confidence gets a little boost I find? Hope you had a lovely weekend! x
One of my favorite summer sides is my mom's potato salad. It's the best! Another is my cousin's chickpea salad, with kalamata olives and Turkish (they MUST be Turkish, she would say) apricots. She passed away tragically 6 years ago and I couldn't find her salad dressing in her recipes, so I was very sad. Thankfully, about 3 years ago I realized I should just look online and I believe I found the website she must have got it from. I've made it a few times and it's so perfect for summer, picnics, or a tea. You can add chicken for a meal. I made it for a family gathering and one of my other cousin's, her brother, just said "great 😒" and it was great that we all laughed because he never liked it.
RIGHT... these two recipes sound INCREDIBLE! I particularly like the sound of the chickpea salad - do you have a link to the website? I'd LOVE to try it! I also the story behind this meal - recipes that have some sort of emotional connection taste even better I find? X
I'm in Northern California. Peaches are a big thing in the American South, I think because Georgia produces some of the most lush peaches in the country.
I do have a great recipe! I assembled this recipe from a pie filling I love with a crisp recipe I got from Baking Illustrated. I pit and chop ~6 large ripe peaches, and toss them with granulated sugar (to taste), ~3 tablespoons tapioca starch, juice from 1 lemon, and a generous pinch of cinnamon. I let that sit while I prep the crisp topping. Blitz 6 tablespoons of AP flour, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor to blend. Cut 5 tablespoons of butter in 1/2 inch pieces, and add them to the food processor one at a time to blend. Add in 3/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (I like almonds or pecans) and blend for 4-5 pulses. The mixture should look like clumpy wet sand, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Put the peach mixture into an ovenproof pan, add the crisp topping over every nook of the peaches, and bake at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes. Serve immediately with ice cream of choice! I hope you do try a crisp recipe (even if it's not this one). It is such a satisfying way to enjoy summer peaches. And the crisp topping freezes amazingly, so you can make a double or triple batch at once and freeze whatever you don't use :)
OMG, I so NEEEEED to try this (also huge apologies for the delay) - thank you SO much for your message - the peaches in North California sound PHENOMENAL!!! xxx
Great to hear you had a fantastic time Steph - so pleased for you. My favourite summer dish is this one from BBC Good Food
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/grilled-nectarine-burrata-salad
Cracking recipe - I LOVE the cheese and fruit combo!
Hi Steph, so glad you faced your fears and enjoyed the visit to Oxfordshire - agreed it’s a beautiful county, I’ve been to Woodstock and some of the villages are beyond chocolate-box perfect - I hope you will feel encouraged to get out more into the world and experience less anxiety about it in future. I empathise, following Covid and a nagging back injury that makes it difficult for me to sit for long periods, I’m reluctant to travel far by any means, especially car. The furthest from Chester I’ve managed, since 2019, is Manchester, so any talk of holidays terrifies me! 😢 I’ve only just read last week’s CC, been a bit distracted this week, but have you ever read a book called “Quiet” by Susan Cain? Brilliant book if, like me, you consider yourself an introvert and struggle with feeling that society in general “expects” you to be happy, bubbly, sociable etc etc at all times and at the drop of a hat. I found this book about 8 years ago after a lifetime of sensing that the extrovert people were having a better time of it, and that I didn’t really fit in. It gave me a whole new perspective on my personality and it helped me been more accepting of myself and it is something I no longer really beat myself up about. Comfortable in my own skin. A great book, recommended for anyone who can identify with those feelings. A few weeks back, Waterstones had a copy. Anyway, have a good week, enjoy the sun while it’s here (nice isn’t it, just a perfect temperature), and start planning another trip! 😄
Hey David,
Firstly, thanks so much for the support! You have absolutely hit the nail on the head there - 'chocolate box perfect'! I definitely feel a bit more confident to step out of my comfort zone a bit although it's funny how quickly you can slip back into old habits I find? I'm so sorry to hear about your back injury - that must be incredibly tough!
As for the book - you know what? I have this one - and you're right, it's so good isn't it? I read it a while back so could probably do with digging it out again, thank you so much for reminding me! The weather has been perfection hasn't it? I'm born for this precise climate! haha! Hope you are having a good start to the week and enjoyed the Bank holiday weekend! x
I'm happy to hear that you had such a great vacation. I'm glad you got to meet up with your friends. Congratulations to you for pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. I know how hard it can be too. Sending much love and hugs to you. xo
Hey Jess - huge apologies for the delay! thank you so much for your lovely message, hope you are doing ok? Sending love and hugs back to you! xxx
My favorite summer dish is peach crisp. The peaches are perfectly sweet and juicy, and the crisp is a nice textural balance to the mushy (in the best way!) peaches. And then you put some ice cream on top and it's perfect. It's one of the many reasons why I love summer :D
AHHHHH YES - do you mind me asking where your are based Becca? My Aunt is from Texas and I remember her telling me about peach ice cream that she was obsessed with as a kid... and come to think of it, I think my uncle talked about making a peach crisp too - maybe I need to give this a GO! Do you have a good recipe? Sending love x
That's awesome you had a good time. Like you, I am a homebody, but I always tell myself before a trip that my best memories are made when I try something new.
My favorite summertime dessert is buttermilk pie
SOOOO true - also even if the experience is RUBBISH, you have stories to tell afterwards right? Sometimes though, I think society makes us believe we should be doing more and I tend to think there must be a sweet spot of doing enough to keep you're mind alive and excited by the world but not feeling you have to do EVERYTHING!
OKAYYYY... ELABORATE - I have never heard of this Wizardry - what is it? I'm going to Google....
Buttermilk pie is US South tradition and just the best pie ever when it's done correctly. The best recipes always include fresh lemon juice & zest + fresh nutmeg.
Steph, I feel as if I myself have had a mini trip to Oxfordshire through your writing. It sounds wonderful! xo
ahhhh Yay - maybe I should become a travel blogger? hahah! Hope you are well! x
Hooray I’m so glad you had a lovely time!! It sounds magical and restorative, and I hope you have more opportunities to explore more new or old favorite places soon! Your bagels look great! I love how you just have a natural intuition with breads. Your experiments and thoughtful additions like the preferment are just delightful and amazing. The dishes I tend to bring to summer get togethers are focaccia (my trademark these days is a roasted garlic-infused and everything bagel seasoning-topped version) and a corn and black bean salad with chipotle-lime dressing. The salad is from the blog “Once upon a Chef” and is one of the dishes I get asked for the recipe the most! It’s very adaptable (I leave out the raw onion because I’m not a fan) and good as either a side or a chunky dip. I get a little burnt out of it by the end of the summer if I make it a few times and eat it for lunches for like a week, but by the following summer I’m craving it again!
Awh thank you! And yes - bread is my true love... I'm back on it again this week - I think I revert to type (aka bread is best) when I feel like I need pure comfort.
Focaccia is a no brainer for summer isn't it? The corn and black bean salad sounds fabulous - I think I may have stumbled across this recipe before you know? Haha - yes - I am guilty of making a recipe repeatedly and getting meal fatigue with it - I am such a creature of habit with so many things, strangely not so much with baking (I feel like I always need to be reinventing the wheel) but with main meals, I just eat a lot of things on repeat, preferring to opt for something that I know is safe and that will work? I am going to have to give this one a go anyway - thank you for the recommendation! x
Yah we are the same, we try new recipes not infrequently but many don’t make the go-to list of regular meals. Ooh if you do try the salad, let me know what you think! It’s this one: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/black-bean-corn-salad-chipotle-honey-vinaigrette.html
A couple more notes: it tells you to use fresh corn and I have done it with fresh, but I usually use frozen corn for convenience and we can get frozen sweet corn year round, and I leave out the onion for my own preference. The cilantro (aka coriander leaves) is sometimes controversial since some people don’t like the taste and I’ve left it out for group events in case people are sensitive and found it tastes great without too, although I will splurge to get cilantro just for this dish when making for myself or with a cilantro-vetted group (fresh herbs always die an awful death in my fridge so I don’t usually buy them but will make exception for this dish and just put in way more cilantro in than it calls for to use it up lol). Also I don’t know if you have access to the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce where you are, it’s usually in the “international” aisle in the Mexican foods area for me here, but if you can’t find it, she has a link to a variation of this recipe with just a lime vinaigrette instead and I’m sure that is just as fabulous!! I hope you enjoy. I love this salad so much!
I love your travel writings. May put Oxfordshire on our list when we return to the UK. We've recently had two trips away, one planned and resulted in a much better than expected experience, the other closer by and spontaneous seeing a hilarious play about Shakespeare. Came home from both trips in a much better mental place. Inspired and ready to do it all over again. Have a great week. Hungry for a bagel!
YES YES YES - VISIT OXFORDSHIRE! Ahhh fantastic - it's great when you have positive experiences like that is't it? Somehow your confidence gets a little boost I find? Hope you had a lovely weekend! x
One of my favorite summer sides is my mom's potato salad. It's the best! Another is my cousin's chickpea salad, with kalamata olives and Turkish (they MUST be Turkish, she would say) apricots. She passed away tragically 6 years ago and I couldn't find her salad dressing in her recipes, so I was very sad. Thankfully, about 3 years ago I realized I should just look online and I believe I found the website she must have got it from. I've made it a few times and it's so perfect for summer, picnics, or a tea. You can add chicken for a meal. I made it for a family gathering and one of my other cousin's, her brother, just said "great 😒" and it was great that we all laughed because he never liked it.
I also love grilled chicken.
RIGHT... these two recipes sound INCREDIBLE! I particularly like the sound of the chickpea salad - do you have a link to the website? I'd LOVE to try it! I also the story behind this meal - recipes that have some sort of emotional connection taste even better I find? X