Madhouse Munchings: PEACHES!

Such a great day! I felt like I was at the top of my game.

I was offered another job today and am looking forward to diving in. I was also given an assignment to edit a 90 page manual. Fun stuff! Who knew I'd fall into something I'd love so much. So grateful for these tender mercies.

Today, the Warden had the day off. He usually has Fridays off during the summer, but because of budget cuts and having to break some pretty bad news to some pretty great people, he's worked a few Fridays here and there. We took advantage of this day with him.

We went out to North Plains and picked peaches at Jossy Farms. In our family, I am the one who takes the kids on outings like this one. The Warden's usually at work. I don't know if he's ever been on a picking expedition with us before.

He called the local grocery store and asked the produce manager if they had any boxes they might part with. They did, so we stopped by to get them, and we were off.

The trees were SO FULL of fruit. It was amazing. My mouth was watering before we even got out of the car. It took us no time at all to fill our boxes up.

When we got to the scale, we found that we'd picked 78 pounds of peaches!

We each ate a peach on our way to the car. I had actually picked a HUGE one and put it aside just for that purpose. I think each member of our family had done the same.

I made peach cobbler when we got home. I asked, a month or so ago, for a cobbler recipe for the boysenberries we'd picked and was given a few different options from friends. Thank you very much, by the way.

In the meantime, I found my old recipe--the one I couldn't find when I had all those boysenberries. So that I don't find myself in this predicament again, here it is.....

PEACH COBBLER

1 1/3 C. sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 C. water

8 C. fresh peaches, sliced

2 C. flour

1/2 C. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

8 Tbsp. butter

2 eggs

6 Tbsp. milk

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and water in a large saucepan. Add the peaches. Gently stir and cook until thickened. Keep warm while making the topping....

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon and cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat the eggs and milk together in a separate bowl. Pour in and mix just until the flour mixture is moist--don't over stir.

Pour the peach mixture into a 9x13 pan and drop the topping in mounds on the top. Don't worry about spreading it around just strategically place them. As they cook, they will spread out a bit.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick.

Here's the best part....serve warm with ice cream.


I'm working on completing a few entries for the "Neighbors of the Madhouse" posts and hope to have them up very soon. If you're interested in joining in, please contact me. The more the merrier!

Madhouse Munchings: Hummus in the Crockpot

Our neighbors moved to Hawaii. We miss them. Before they left, they made the realization that they couldn't take so many things with them. Many of their food items would have to be left behind.

One Sunday afternoon, she came over and asked if we'd like anything from their kitchen. We went over and inherited so many things. It was wonderful!

She had a lot of ingredients one would use to make middle eastern recipes. I was so excited!

Among the things we inherited were some dried chick peas. I've only ever used canned garbanzo beans, so I thought I'd give these a go. I'm using this recipe. Thought I'd share for anyone who might like to try it too. Just in case you happen to have a neighbor moving to Hawaii who bequeaths you some chick peas.

Enjoy!

Madhouse Munchings: THE Bread Recipe

When I started making bread a week or so ago, I didn't realize that it would turn into a daily event at our house.  Each member of the family loves walking in to the smell of fresh baked bread.  It's LOVELY!

So, I use this recipe, but here's an easier version for you.  If you're a novice at making bread, like I was, you may want to use the original site.  If you are a little more confident, here's a more consolidated list of instructions (or as we say at our house... "destructions").....

In a large bowl, pour one package of yeast for every loaf of bread you want to make (right now, I'm up to four) and 1 cup of warm water (not too hot) for each loaf too.  Stir until the yeast is fully dissolved.

Here's the rest of the instructions for one loaf of bread but triple, quadruple, whatever for however many loaves you want to make:

Stir in:
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 C. milk
2 1/2 C. whole wheat flour

Slowly add (about 1/4 C. at a time):
2 1/2 C. white flour

I usually add 2 cups and use the last half cup to dust the dough as I knead it.

Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes.  This is my favorite part.  Such a great aggression release.

Spray the bowl with non-stick cooking spray, put the ball of dough back into the bowl, cover it loosely with plastic wrap and let it sit in a draft-free place (I put mine into an unheated oven or the microwave--not turned on, of course) for 1 hour.  The dough will double in size.

After the hour, take the bowl out and punch the dough down.  Lay it out on the floured surface again.  If you're making multiple loaves, cut the dough into however many loaves you're doing.

Roll the dough out so it's as wide as the bread pan, but longer than the pan.  Roll it up and fold the ends under.  Place it in a greased bread pan, cover it lightly again and place it back in the non-drafty place (if your place is the oven, don't pre-heat the oven until the bread is out--I probably didn't need to say that, but...just in case).  Let it sit for another hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake the bread for 30 minutes.  You know it's done if you tap on the top and it sounds hollow.

I spread butter over the top crust just to make it softer and give it a little flavor then I tip it out immediately onto a wire rack to cool.

I'm sure this dough could be used for all kinds of yummy things--scones, cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, etc., so have fun experimenting.  You can also tweak the amounts and kinds of flours you use.  The original recipe just called for white flour, but I was striving for something just a bit healthier.

This bread also makes FANTASTIC toast.  Enjoy!

Madhouse Munchings: Easy Mac and Cheese

#1 LOVES mac and cheese. We've teased her growing up that the day would come that she'd go to a fancy restaurant--for prom or something--and would order mac and cheese.

It's spring break here, and yesterday, #1 scanned the pantry for the blue box but found none. UGH! So, I taught her how to make it.

In the end, she realized that what she was eating was healthier (none of the added colorings, etc.), more delicious and just as easy to make. So, for her future reference and for anyone else who wants to try it, here's how it goes....

Boil some water for the pasta. Once it's boiling, pour in the pasta and let it cook according to the package instructions.

While the pasta is cooking, put some butter in a saucepan. It will really depend on how much you want to make, but for her portion, which ended up being about three average-sized portions, she put 2 Tbsp. of butter in the pan. Melt the butter.

After the butter is melted, pour in an equal amount of flour--2 Tbsp. in this case. Stir until it is well blended and smooth.

Pour in either milk or chicken broth. I would start with about 1/2 C. Stir until it's thick, and add more if it's too thick. If you go with milk, add some boullion--just a bit to flavor it.

Add grated cheese. This is one of those add it and taste it, add it and taste it kind of things. Add as much as you need to achieve the flavor you like.

Add salt and pepper, and pour it over the pasta and stir them together. If you end up with too much pasta, save it for a pasta salad (see the last paragraph of the link). If you end up with too much sauce, cook up some broccoli later and pour it over that.

There you go! Enjoy!