No precook for the goo, but oh the goo!

Church potluck time means pull out a new recipe to try. All the peaches mean make something with peaches - Peach Pie Crumble Bars. No glaze because I'd already sent Andy to the grocery store once and I ran out of powdered sugar and I wasn't going to send him back or go myself.... so... no glaze this time. The peach layer had corn starch which is often an iffy thing. Andy hates corn starch, mostly because he has zero patience in cooking with it. He doesn't get the concept of hot and fast... cook that stuff hot and fast and it'll goo up for you. This recipe doesn't require any stovetop cooking, you just stir it up and pour it out on the shortbread and add the crumble on top. The pie filling gelled up perfectly. It peeled away from the parchment like magic. The bars sliced up and served great. They were a hit at the potluck and pretty sure we'll be making those again sometime soon - with some frozen peaches since peach season has closed.

Peach Pie Crumble Bars
Shortbread Base
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
Peach Layer
3 cups chopped peaches, about 4-5 large peaches
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Crumble Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup large flake oats, quick oats or old-fashioned oats work too
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 tablespoons cream, or milk

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang around the edges.
Make the Shortbread Base. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, powdered sugar & salt. Stir in the melted butter.
Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 15 minutes.
As the base is baking, make the peach layer.
Toss the chopped peaches with the sugar, lemon juice & cornstarch until the peaches & evenly coated.
Make the Crumble Topping. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar. Then stir in the melted butter - it should resemble wet sand.
Spread the peach mixture on top of the baked shortbread base. Then crumble the oatmeal crumble topping in your palms, and sprinkle over top of the peach layer.
Bake in the preheated oven at 350F for 35-45 minutes, or until the top looks golden brown.
Cool fully.
In a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract & cream until smooth. Add in a little more cream or powdered sugar as needed.
Drizzle the glaze over top of the bars.

All the tomatoes and basil

 

Andy's been having a work emergency for about two weeks so it's been me and the kids vs. the world... getting everything possible done, doing all the everything. On the day I had to be back in person in my office, I decided to try this recipe. It was a crazy busy day, then added a trip to school to do a walk through, then grocery shopping, I wasn't feeling like trying a new recipe, but with nothing else thawed and our road a mess... doing it. I sent Nicholas out to the garden to pick some fresh tomatoes and basil. This recipe had tomatoes picked and cooked within minutes... it doesn't get much more fresh than this. It was so good! We used skim ricotta and survived, maybe it wasn't silky smooth but it sure did taste good. I think everyone went back for seconds - I'd say that was a pretty good sign. Keep those fresh tomatoes and basil coming!

Tomato Ricotta Pasta
For the Pasta:
12 ounces pasta (penne, rigatoni, or spaghetti)
1 tablespoon salt (for boiling water)
For the Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes, blended)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, for spice)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup ricotta cheese (whole milk for the creamiest texture)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup pasta water (reserved)

For Garnish:
Fresh basil leaves, chopped
Extra Parmesan cheese
Drizzle of olive oil
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, following the package instructions. Before draining, reserve about ¼ cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the minced garlic and chopped onion, sautéing until soft and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to deepen its flavor. Then, add the crushed tomatoes, dried oregano, dried basil, red pepper flakes (if using), salt, and black pepper. Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens slightly.
Lower the heat and stir in the ricotta cheese, mixing well until the sauce becomes creamy. If the sauce is too thick, gradually add a little reserved pasta water to reach the desired consistency.
Add the drained pasta to the skillet, tossing everything together so that each piece is coated in the rich tomato-ricotta sauce. Sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese and stir well.
Divide the pasta among plates and garnish with fresh basil, extra Parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Not wasting "God's bounty"

When you are trying not to waste "God's bounty" you find any and all ways to use said bounty - we gave peach jam a try with our bounty. We had quite a storm roll through and so many ripe peaches fell off the tree so we collected a bunch to make jam. We race the bugs at this stage of peach picking... and sometimes the bugs win. You cut open a peach and blech! Worms... Scoop them out and move on right? That's what we did anyway. This jam firmed up more than any jam I've ever made. So either the double pouches of pectin or the ripe peaches made this work very well. Nicholas declared this amazing and couldn't wait to have more. I'd say this was a raving success!

Peach Freezer Jam
2-1/2 cups chopped peaches (buy about 2 lb. fully ripe peaches)
4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
1 pouch SURE-JELL CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin
3 tbsp juice from 1 lemon

Rinse clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
Peel and pit peaches. Finely chop or grind peaches. Measure exactly 2-1/2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.
Mix pectin and lemon juice in small bowl. Add to prepared fruit mixture in large bowl; stir 3 min. or until most of the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator.

Making fuzzy butter...

Nicholas loves to look over my shoulder when I'm scrolling social media, he saw my watching a video on how to make peach butter. We have peaches... lots of peaches. Last year we had zero peaches so this year we are embracing every fuzzy piece of fruit we can wrangle. We decided this one was worth a try. We also decided the peach butter should have some cinnamon, so we took a few recipes and tweaked them. Making this in the crockpot is the way to go. Set it and stir once in a while and be done with it. We used the stick blender because that makes life so much easier. We can wait to try this on biscuits. We LOVE apple butter so hoping this is a new favorite too!

Peach Butter
10 lbs peaches – pitted
1 lemon juiced
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Crush peaches with hands & add everything to a stock pot. Simmer over medium heat for 45 mins, until it’s reduced to a thick sauce.
Immersion blend halfway through
Water bath for 10 mins

Two recipes stirred together makes one amazing recipe.

Earlier this year when we went strawberry picking, we thought how amazing freezer peach jam would be too - not only that... but what if we made a combo strawberry and peach jam!! Back 16 years ago Andy and I made 9 gallons of strawberry peach jam for our wedding favors, but freezer jam is SO much easier and tastes better, I think. I tried to find a recipe and failed... miserably. So I opted to make two full recipes - one of strawberry and one of peach - then we stirred them together and viola - Strawberry Peach Freezer Jam! Or Jelly as I grew up calling it. Oh my... oh my!! So good! We did use the food processor to chop up both fruits, that seems to work better for some reason for the Certo pectin. Thankfully, I had jars from my mom that worked great for the freezer. The peach tree keeps on producing so we may just make some peach jam too to add to the freezer, guess we'll see what the rest of the season brings. So, here's two full recipes - stir them together and there you go...

Strawberry Peach Freezer Jam

CERTO® Strawberry Freezer Jam
2 cups prepared fruit (buy about 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
1 pouch SURE-JELL CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Rinse clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
Stem and crush strawberries thoroughly, one layer at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.
Mix SURE-JELL CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin and lemon juice in small bowl. Add to strawberry mixture; stir 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator.

CERTO Peach Freezer Jam
2-3/4 cups chopped peaches (about 2.25 lb. fully ripe peaches)
6-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
2 pouch SURE-JELL CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin
1/3 cup tbsp lemon juice

Rinse clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.
Peel and pit peaches. Finely chop or grind peaches. Measure exactly 2-3/4 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.
Mix pectin and lemon juice in small bowl. Add to prepared fruit mixture in large bowl; stir 3 min. or until most of the sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)
Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator.