ADIEU TO LA PÊCHE

                                                  

Wow, Autumn is upon us, and it’s almost time to bid farewell to my outside shower and local peaches.  I’m sad L.  To me, peaches exemplify summer.  They look like summer.  They taste like sunshine and they feel like……ick, ick, oh yikes, they feel like tennis balls!  Only you have to eat them!  Put that fuzzy stuff in your mouth and I CAN’T DO IT!  I can’t even watch someone else do it.  It gives me the willies.

But I do love them.  I just need a designated peach picker, holder, carrier, peeler guy to defuzz them.  That would be Mike.

Peaches, which are believed to have originated in Persia, actually migrated to that area of the world from China.  Thank you China… you rock.  Alas, like all beauty queens, the peach was only valued for its looks, - its beautiful blossoms, - rather than its small, sour, ornamental fruit.  But, when it made its way to the Middle East, it thrived in the warmer, sunnier climate.  Sort of like Mike in the summer, but without the tan.

Although most commercial peaches are grown in California, Georgia and New Joisey, really good, sweet, juicy peachy peaches, like everything else grown locally are best.  Unfortunately, they are also fuzzier.  How fair is that?

Peaches, yellow or white, come in either cling – that pit ain’t coming out no matter how much you swear at it – and freestone which has, well, a free stone that is easy to remove.  I can’t tell them apart, so I always ask my farmer which type they are.  You are buying your peaches from a local farmer, right?

P.S.  I have a confession to make – so here goes.  Bless me, Julia, for I have sinned… I wanted ladyfingers for a quickie Tiramisu and I BOUGHT SOME!

At a local supermarket!  I’m so ashamed.  But, I didn’t use them.  I couldn’t bring myself to open the package, so I put it on top of my microwave oven and forgot about them until today, five weeks later.  THEY ARE FINE.  Soft.  No mold.  Pristine.  Holy Crap!  The ingredient list goes on, and on and ooooonnnnn, and they only things I recognize are eggs, flour and sugar.  So, as an ongoing experiment, I put them back and will report the date of their demise. 

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PEACH SALSA

2 ripe peaches

1/4 cup diced red or sweet onion

1/4 cup diced bell pepper, any color

1 small chili, - jalapeno or whatever

Juice of 1 lime

1 Tablespoon finely chopped mint, cilantro or parsley

Peel (Mike’s job), pit and cube peaches.  Add peppers, lime juice and chopped herb.  Mix thoroughly and refrigerate until chilled.  Great over grilled fish, chicken or pork.  You’re welcome!

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For a printer friendly copy of our Peach Salsa go to our web site at http://www.stoneturtlebaking.com/webdocs/recipes.htm .

HOW I FOUND OUT I WAS OLD

A few months ago, my Grandson, R.J., excitedly told me that he was starting Kindergarten……no, wait,…he said college, but that’s not possible, he’s only five!

 

But, then, why is he driving, and why am I looking up at him?  I smiled and said, YES!  Good for you!  But, I gotta tell you, my chest tightened and I felt a lump in my throat.  My little Grandson is gone, and there is a tall, hairy college man in his place, off to Johnson & Wales this weekend to become a chef.

My son, John, R.J.’s Dad, has been a cook and kitchen manager at Captain’s Galley in Old Orchard Beach for over twelve years.  I guess watching his Dad work fourteen hour days, ruin his back and fill in as dishwasher when the “help” doesn’t show up proved irresistible!

But, cooking is a calling, like the ministry, except with more bad words, and if you are supposed to be a cook, sooner or later, the Muse will whisper in your ear and a kitchen will find you.

Last summer, when Mike and I were baking for a local Farmers’ Market, R.J. biked over from his house to lend us a hand with our set-up.  He looked around at our wares and asked, “what isn’t here,…what don’t you sell?”  The answer was cookies.  Our table was cookie free and an entrepreneur was born.  The following week R.J. came over to our school and baked twelve dozen cookies, and on Saturday, he put a nice lump of cookie dough in his pocket.  He was a big draw every week and usually sold out in three hours, but I’m still wondering if his success was due to his cookies or his pink mohawk!

We’re proud of you R.J.  Godspeed.

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R.J.’s AWESOME EVERYTHING COOKIES

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

11/4 cups rolled oats, not quick cooking

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon grated fresh orange zest (shhh…this is the secret ingredient!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy.  Add the egg, orange zest and vanilla.  Gradually mix in flour mixture.  Stir in rolled oats, walnuts, craisins, raisins and the chocolate chips or chunks and mix until evenly incorporated.  Drop by rounded tablespoons, about 2 to 3 inches apart, onto parchment covered cookie sheets. 

Bake 10 to 13 minutes, depending on how chewy or crisp you like your cookies.

(R.J. kept his chewy).  Cool completely on racks before wrapping.

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For a printer friendly copy of R.J.’s AWESOME EVERYTHING COOKIES please visit our web site at http://www.stoneturtlebaking.com/webdocs/recipes.htm .