I haven’t always been a good cook. I have always tried, but it took me several years of trying before I wasn’t setting the kitchen on fire every time I stepped into it. About the fire, you think I’m kidding don’t you? Its true. Keep on reading.

To give you a little background, we will head back to my younger years. I was in middle school and my mom, who had raised 5 kids, had decided to go to college at the age of 50. She graduated from undergraduate school and then went on to get her Masters degree.  During the school year she taught at the local elementary school and during the summers, she took classes towards her Masters degree at Pittsburg State University. On summer mornings, my mom would get up and set out to school, leaving my older sister and I at home.

We were on our own for lunch. My typical meals, I kid you not, were a) Miracle Whip sandwich foldovers (one slice of bread with Miracle Whip, folded over), b) pizza sauce with mozzarella cheese mixed in and heated up in the microwave, c) fried tortillas. My mom had other things for us to eat, but I usually went with one of my own “gourmet” options.

I did a pretty good job of making the Miracle Whip sandwich fold overs and the pizza sauce with mozzarella creation. It was the fried tortillas that got me into trouble the most often. For the fried tortillas, I would put the oil in the pan, turn the burner on, then run downstairs to watch As The World Turns.  Nine times out of ten, I would get caught up in the show and would be pushed out of the TV trance only by the sound of our smoke alarm blaring. I’d run upstairs to find flames shooting up in the air from the heated oil, would grab the baking soda that mom left by the stove, dump it on and put out the fire.

This happened frequently… I’m talking 2-3 times a week. Looking back, I can’t believe I didn’t burn our kitchen down. Even more surprising is the fact that my mom didn’t ban me from the kitchen! Instead, she would come home to the baking soda covered stove and floor and know that I had been attempting to cook. Eventually she made a rule that if something was on the stove, you had to stay in that room.

My cooking abilities have improved over time. I firmly believe that it may be because I stopped frying tortillas. I found out that some things never change this evening when I set out to make what was on the menu - Fajita Skillet. The first step in the recipe had me frying up strips of flour tortillas. I did a batch, put a little salt on them and the kids came running in and devoured them. Since that batch was gobbled up, I decided to do another batch. I cut the strips, heated the oil then added them to the pan. Soon after the tortilla strips were added to the pan, one of the kids hollered and needed something. I ran into the other room to help them and was there for a bit when an old familiar smell drifted into the air. The smell was of burning oil and blackened tortillas. Sure enough, when I ran into the kitchen, flames were shooting up into the air. Grabbing the baking soda was old hat to me and putting out the fire was second nature - kind of like riding a bike.

Unless you like the excitment of catching your kitchen on fire, I would put the “stay in the room when hot oil is on the stove” rule in place in your house too. The fajita skillet recipe is a great one, but not worth replacing your kitchen for!.

Fajita Skillet adapted from Taste of Home Magazine

• 2 flour tortillas (10 inches), cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 medium green pepper, sliced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped

In a large skillet, fry tortilla strips in 2 tablespoons oil on both sides for 1 minute or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
In the same skillet, cook the chicken, beef, green pepper, onion, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili powder, cumin and pepper in remaining oil for 3-4 minutes or until chicken juices run clear and vegetables are crisp-tender.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and lime juice until smooth. Stir into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in pineapple and tomato; heat through. Serve with tortilla strips. Yield: 4 servings.

Are you hungry for more fajita recipes? Check out these recipes by food bloggers around the blogosphere.

• Bluefish Fajitas from Beyond Salmon
• Slow Cooker Fajitas from Diannes Dishes
• Amazing Veggie Fajitas from Gillian’s Goodies
• Fajitas Your Way from The Humble Housewife

I launched Adopt a Blogger #2 last week. Blogging friends, we have some eager food blogging newbies who need an experienced blogger to adopt them. Thanks to those of you who have already stepped forward. For the rest of you veteran bloggers, here are the top five reasons why I think you should adopt a blogger:

1. Adoption is cool. If you go the adopt a blogger route, it is much less expensive and you don’t have to travel internationally to pick up your adoptee.
2. Under most circumstances, your food blogging adoptee will come already potty trained.
3. How often do you get to completely influence someone without actually worrying about what kind of adult they’ll turn out to be?
4. Deb from Smitten Kitchen, Lydia from The Perfect Pantry, Holler over at Tinned Tomatoes and Peabody were all adoptive parents last go around (along with a whole slew of wonderful people!). If they have the time to adopt a newbie, you do too!
5. Oprah Winfrey has a mentor. Michael Phelps has a mentor. Wouldn’t you like to be a mentor too?

Lydia from The Perfect Pantry (who adopted 2 bloggers last time around) had this to say about her Adopt a Blogger experience.

“I just want to tell all the more experienced food bloggers out there that adopting a blogger is a wonderful thing. I’ve adopted two bloggers. The time commitment is only what you can do, and it’s so rewarding to watch your adoptive blogs grow. Please sign up!”

I am not going to beg… at least not yet… but I hope you will consider taking a part of Adopt a Blogger #2. Help a fellow food blogger get their wings and mentor someone today! Sign up by commenting on THIS post.

Just for kicks and grins, here is what we had for dinner tonight. I made some minor adjustments (didn’t have colby jack cheese, so used what we had on hand… cheddar and mozzarella) and I completely changed the tomatillos and chilies to a can of rotelle. I know - nothing like tomatillos and it is probably a bit sacreligious, but it is what I had on hand and it turned out great! This is a very versatile recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Chicken Chilaquiles (from Cooking Light Magazine)

2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeño peppers, divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine chicken, green onions, 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese, Parmesan, chili powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Place milk and next 3 ingredients (through chiles) in a food processor or blender; process until smooth.

Heat tortillas according to package directions. Pour 1/3 cup tomatillo mixture into bottom of an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 corn tortillas in dish, and top with half of chicken mixture. Repeat layer with remaining tortillas and chicken mixture, ending with tortillas.

Pour remaining 1 1/2 cups tomatillo mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Intrigued by tomatillos? Check out what these food bloggers are doing with them:

• Tomatillo and Black Bean Salsa from Kaylyns Kitchen
• Avocado and Tomatillo Salsa from Cafe LynnyLu
• Pork and Tomatillo Stew from Daily Bread Journal
• Homemade Guacamole with Tomatillos from A Veggie Venture

…………………………………………………………………………………

• Two more days to enter the Dine & Dish giveaway for your very own set of Envirosax. Check out the details here.
• Something I found hilarious, and so very handy. Check out Inn Cuisine’s post on The YouTube Movement Against Chip Clips.
• Obsessed much? My son is a tad bit obsessed with the Olympics and Michael Phelps. At least my kiddos learned something from watching so much TV! Dishing It Up Family Style is here.

Written for Paper Palate on The Well Fed Network

I will admit… I have been a little disenchanted with some of the latest issues of Food & Wine magazine. Usually, I am able to flip through the magazine and bookmark a good handful of recipes to add to my “I will make this someday list“. Lately, however, I have bookmarked less and less.

This is why I was pleasantly surprised when the 30th Anniversary Issue arrived in my mailbox and the number of recipes that piqued my interest more than made up for the lack of recipes I had bookmarked in recent months. This issue of Food & Wine magazine takes us back to what I consider to be classic Food & Wine style… recipes that are elegant and unique, yet not so overwhelmingly complicated that it turns novice cooks away.

Some of the recipes that caught my eye were Chunky Guacamole with Cumin, Watermelon Salad with Feta, Triple-Tomato Penne, Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken, Skillet Apple Charlotte, Chipotle Shrimp Tostadas, Stir Fried Five Spice Pork with Lettuce Cups, and my favorite… Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Filling.

Thank you Food & Wine for bringing classic back and sharing with us some of the trends of the past and the future.  I can only hope that one trend that falls into my mailbox each month is a Food & Wine magazine packed with great recipes that readers like me love.

Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Filling

ingredients

Our stimulus check arrived in the mail yesterday…. exactly 10 minutes before our mini van decided it knew exactly what we should do with that money, and sputtered and died. Is that not Murphy’s Law or what? We bought our van new in 2003 and have not had to take it in to the shop for anything other than the routine maintenance required of vehicles. We get a hot little amount of cash in our hands and, POOF, $700 later that hot little amount of cash in our hands dwindles down to much, much less.

At first I was irritated… I mean really ticked off. Then, I took a breath and stepped back and thought a bit. I could go down the “why does this kind of stuff always happen to us?” road but instead decided to change my perspective. We are lucky that this happened to our van the day it happened because we knew as soon as we got the total repair bill that we would be able to pay it without dipping into any special funds (aka to me as our “ocean fund” and to my husband as our “oh shit” fund). The money that we needed was right there in our mailbox and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

So, my post today serves as nothing more than a reminder to shift your perspective before you react to things. Remember that there are always people out there who have it worse off and who still manage to wake up each day and smile. From their perspective, there are people in the world who have it far worse then them. It is all how you look at it.

I cannot think of any way at all to tie this into a recipe, but will tell you that if you do as I did and bake this bundt cake into 4 mini loaf pans instead of the bundt cake pan, you will have enough cake to go around and can share some with the people you love, are thankful for, or who need a new perspective on life. A kind act from you, like giving someone down on their luck a delicious chocolate loaf, can shift their perspective and help them to remember that they are pretty damn lucky… life really is good.

Decadent Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake (From March 2008 issue of Cooking Light Magazine)

Glaze:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chocolate-flavored liqueur
2 tablespoons butter

Cake:
1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate minichips
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. To prepare glaze, combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cool completely.2. Preheat oven to 350°.

3. To prepare cake, drizzle oil into a 12-cup Bundt pan; coat pan thoroughly with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons flour, shaking out excess. Coat prepared pan with cooking spray.

4. Place 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and 6 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

5. Lightly spoon 3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 3 cups flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition. Beat 2 minutes. Fold in chips. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Swirl batter using a knife.

6. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately pour glaze over cake. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Invert cake onto a serving plate; cool completely. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.

So, you like Bundt Cakes? Check out these other great recipes from the food blogging community:

• Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake, from Joy the Baker
• Pumpkin Bundt Cake, from Whipped
• Luscious Lemon Bundt Cake, from Stephanie’s Kitchen
• Mint Chocolate Bundt Cake, from Foodaphilia

I am always warning my kids not to spill things… “Don’t spill that… chocolate stains”. So, many times I’ll get the question asked of me by my kiddos, “Mommy, does this stain?”. I’m not sure if they are asking because they want permission to spill something, or if they are going to gauge my response in advance before they tell me that they spilled something.

So, yesterday when I was making breakfast and had the blueberries out on the table for them to help themselves to, I heard my 4 year old say under her breath, “Uh ohhhhhh”. Then, I heard the words, “Ummmmm, mommy? Do blueberries stain?” It was at that point that I turned around to see my two year old (who you know has been a challenge lately) covered from head to toe in a blueberry stain of a mess. I am not exactly sure what she did with those blueberries… I’m assuming she used them as body paint… but she sure had fun doing it.

Luckily, I had enough remaining blueberries left from her experiment to make this tasty Blueberry Coffee Cake from the May 2008 issue of Cooking Light. This cake is moist and flavorful… and the turbinado sugar on the top really makes this recipe complete.

Worth any stains you might endure (and the extra baths and loads of laundry), this cake is a delightful breakfast treat.

Blueberry Coffee Cake is my entry in Cook Sister’s Event - Waiter, there’s something in my… berries, featuring fresh berries of the season.

Blueberry Coffee Cake, from the May 2008 issue of Cooking Light

1 hour | 10 min prep

SERVES 8

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk
• cooking spray
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Yesterday afternoon, the two year old in my family had a meltdown… in the middle of the grocery store. Let me tell you, it was a lovely site. First, refusing to wear her shoes and then refusing to sit in the cart, my normally sweet and laid back daughter completely lost it. Running off, laying in the middle of the aisles and screaming at the top of her lungs, she really let everyone within a ten mile radius know that she was not happy. I would attempt to pick her up, and she would  scrunch up her legs, pushing me away, and would scream even louder. Three kids, lots of grocery store trips, and this was my very first time to experience such a show firsthand.

Most sane mom’s would pick up their child and leave the store with their groceries un-purchased. Me? Nope - I continued to let her make a scene simply because I had these luscious, juicy, aromatic peaches in my cart and I couldn’t bare to walk out of the store without them. Women, who apparently have never had children or who were as terribly annoyed as I was kept giving me dirty looks in the checkout lane. But, as stubborn as my two year old, I refused to leave without my peaches.

And I can honestly say… all the dirty looks, all the built up frustration, all the cussing at my husband for traveling for work this week which lead me to go to the store with my three kids in the first place… all of that was well worth it when I took my first juicy bite.

In fact, I may even brave the store with the temper tantrum thrower again tonight. This simple recipe (even though my whipped lemon cream had a meltdown of its own) is worth any embarrassment I may face.

Peaches with Lemon Cream, from Simple & Delicious August 2008

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add the brown sugar, vanilla and lemon peel; beat until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
Brush cut sides of peaches with oil; place cut side down on grill rack. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until peaches are tender and begin to caramelize.
Place peaches on dessert plates; fill with lemon cream mixture. Yield: 6 servings.

I am a very visual person. I love to have recipes with photographs… it makes the recipe that much more tempting and desirable. Often times, I will be flipping through a magazine and will fall in love with a photo of a recipe, only to take a look at the recipe and realize that I really don’t care for some of the ingredients in the dish. This does not happen very often, as I am not a very picky eater, but when it does sometimes I am still lured in just enough by the photo to throw out my picky qualms about an ingredient and to try the recipe anyway.

This happened recently when I was flipping through June/July 2008 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. A photograph for an appetizer called “Sky Blue Potatoes” caught my eye and I immediately was intrigued. Then, I took a look at the ingredients and noticed that the “Blue” in the recipe title actually came from the fact that Blue Cheese is one of the prominent ingredients. I have never been a fan of Blue Cheese. I have always wanted to be, but each and every time I try it it just does nothing for my tastebuds. I was still being tempted by the photo, so I decided to make this appetizer anyway.

This appetizer was not a huge amount of work, but to do all of that work only to discover that you still do not like blue cheese is a little disappointing.  I don’t know what I was expecting my tastebuds to do…did I really think they were going to make a big whopping change, just like that? Actually, yes… yes I did. I just thought that I’d make the recipe, take my first bite, and suddenly be in love with blue cheese! It didn’t happen, folks. In case you are wondering, I still am not a blue cheese fan.

This appetizer got a thumbs up from the Blue Cheese lovers who tried it. If you are of the Blue Cheese loving group, you’ll love this appetizer. If you are not, I’ve done the work for you and can tell you… blue cheese still tastes like blue cheese no matter how tempting the photograph!

Sky Blue Potatoes, from Everyday with Rachael Ray, June/July 2008

(First of all… are you already having Tastespotting withdrawl like I am? Luckily Food Gawker has stepped in to take over where Tastespotting left off! Check it out!)

As someone who writes for a food blog and other food related sites, and someone who also loves to read food blogs, I can admit that often times I will make something simply because I believe it will be good food blog fodder. This train of thought often leads me to leave out those things that might be more ordinary. (Okay - what is ordinary to me and what is ordinary to you may be completely different things, but just go with it, please.)

My husband and I attended a party on Saturday night and we were asked to bring an appetizer and dessert. It was an outdoor party, so I knew that I wanted something light and refreshing.. something that could withstand the heat if it got too hot. Chocolate was out. Frozen desserts were out. Anything with a lot of cream or dairy products was out. As I took a look through my “I will make this someday” list, I stumbled upon the Golden Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries recipe and thought I should give that a try. But, then, I hesitated. It seems like such an ordinary cake… how I would I spin it in to a blog post? What could possibly be entertaining about a plain old buttermilk cake?

Well, blogging thoughts thrown aside and the desire to mark another thing off my list taking precedence, I decided to forgo the excitement of an extraordinary dessert and go for the ordinary. After I photographed my little slice of cake, I slipped it back onto the serving plate and we headed out to the party.

I learned a very good lesson that day. Sometimes the ordinary really is extraordinary, just disguised under a simple facade. I set the cake down with the dish of cut up strawberries next to it, went with my husband to scout out a place to put our stuff, came back to get some food and noticed that my cake was almost all gone! The party had barely even begun, and people were snatching up little slices of my ordinary cake and topping it with the strawberries and were passing up things that were much fancier. I hurriedly snatched up a piece and my husband and I sat down and both mmmmm’d our way through each bite.

This cake does not need fanfare. It does not need fancy words or an elaborate description. It just needs you to give it a try and you can discover for your self how wonderful ordinary can be.

Golden Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries - Cooking Light, March 2007

1 cup cake flour (about 4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup egg substitute (I used one egg as I was out of egg substitute)
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
4 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg substitute; beat just until combined. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition. Stir in vanilla (batter will be thick).

Spoon batter into an 8-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over top of cake.

Combine berries and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve berry mixture with cake.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cake slice and 1/2 cup berry mixture)

CALORIES 193 (29% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 3.8g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.4g); IRON 1.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 16mg; CALCIUM 75mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.4g; SODIUM 253mg; PROTEIN 3.5g; FIBER 2g

Kids change everything… they really do. We have three young kids and I would not change having them for anything. They are the brightest spots in our lives and I appreciate having the opportunity to be a mom each and every day.

I am not going to lie though… kids do change everything. Going to the bathroom in private? Doesn’t happen anymore. If someone isn’t in the bathroom with me, they are hanging outside the door with little fingers reaching under the door or questions being shouted through the door. Add to that my 2 year old clapping when I go and then shouting “bye-bye potty!” when the toilet is flushed. Oh - and how about getting to eat all of your dessert? Nope… it took me 30 some years, but I finally understand the concept of sharing to the fullest capacity. Gracefully sharing is giving up the last spoonful of your Death by Chocolate dessert because your sweet four year old is staring at you with those eyes. You know - those eyes that Daddy is going to have to learn to resist any time she asks him for something. And how about this one… how about something as simple as a conversation? My husband and I will attempt having a conversation and by the fourth interruption, we finally give up, vowing to talk about it later, and then collapsing into bed at the end of the day with no energy to converse.

My husband and I still do find time to rekindle that flame. Next month, we are planning a little trip to Wine Country (if any of you have any suggestions on places to stay, things to do, etc please let me know). Nothing gets that romance going again like a nice vacation away.. .without kids.

Tonight we rekindled the flame. Yep… in the kitchen, of all places! Oh c’mon… get your minds out of the gutter. We made Tequila Shrimp from the September, 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine and it required “burning off” the alcohol. Taking cover, I was prepared for a raging inferno, but all we got was a short little burst of flame. It still was enough to add some excitement to our evening!

If kids have changed your life some, and that flame is burning low, make it a priority to date your spouse. And, if dating is something you can’t do right now, then try getting hot in the kitchen. The Tequila Shrimp is just the little quickie to add some spark to your night!

Tequila Shrimp, Gourmet Magazine September 2007 (and another one gets marked off the list!)

1 1/2 pounds large shrimp in shell (21 to 25 per pound), peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup white or reposado tequila
3/4 cup crema or sour cream
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Accompaniment: rice

Toss shrimp with kosher salt and 3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper.

Heat butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides, then sauté shrimp, turning, until pink and just cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat and add tequila, then increase heat to medium-high. Tilt skillet over gas burner to ignite tequila (or ignite with a long match; use caution, as flames may shoot up high). Cook, shaking skillet gently once or twice, until flames subside. Remove from heat and stir in crema. Serve sprinkled with scallion.

I love making lists. I think that is one of the reasons 43 Things is one of my favorite websites. It is all about making lists and marking things off. Sometimes (ok…everyday), I’ll even add something to my daily sticky note lists, just so I can mark it off!

After finally finishing my “I Will Make This Someday - Magazine Version” list, which let me tell you… was quite the project… I felt like I needed to make something just so I could mark it off the list.

Out shopping for produce yesterday, I came across a stand that had fresh peaches. Juicy, ripe and delicious peaches. Peaches have never been my favorite fruit, but there was something about these peaches that were so tempting. I decided to pick up a few pounds to bring home, remembering that one of the recipes on my list was for a peach cobbler.

Texas Peach Cobbler is what I ended up making with the fresh peaches I brought home. This recipe was a perfect use of the peaches as the cobbler complemented the true flavors of the peaches well. If you, like me, enjoy making lists then make sure you add Texas Peach Cobbler to your list…even if it is just so you can mark it off the same day!

Texas Peach Cobbler, from Cooking Light Magazine

Filling:
4 cups sliced peeled ripe peaches (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Batter:
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of ground cinnamon
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.To prepare filling, combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside.

To prepare batter, place butter in an 8-inch square baking dish. Place dish in oven 5 minutes or until butter melts. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through dash of cinnamon) in a medium bowl. Combine milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter over butter, spreading evenly (do not stir). Spoon peach mixture over batter, gently pressing peaches into batter. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until crust is golden.

Yield: 8 servings

CALORIES 294 (28% from fat); FAT 9.3g (sat 5.7g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.5g); IRON 1.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 24mg; CALCIUM 118mg; CARBOHYDRATE 51g; SODIUM 235mg; PROTEIN 4.2g; FIBER 2.2g