Monday, July 8, 2013

Not Your Grandma's Peach Cobbler!

So, we've been buying peaches from Costco the past few weeks and they are delicious!  So juicy and perfectly ripe - yummy!  I've mostly been using them for fresh smoothies with my new Vitamix (so excited about that purchase!!) or slicing them up with a bowl of vanilla greek yogurt!  I'm going to use them to make some Peach Chiffon Pie for a pie contest at our Relief Society monthly meeting next week too!  I'll share that recipe when I've got pictures to go with it.

Last night though, I didn't just want a smoothie or peaches with yogurt.  I wanted something warm and gooey and peachy and delicious.  So, I headed to Pinterest, of course!  And there, towards the top of my feed, was exactly what I was looking for!  Butterscotch Caramel Peach Cobbler.  Yep.  I was drooling.  So, I headed over to Parsley, Sage and Sweet and  took a quick peek at the ingredients and directions and then we were off!  About an hour later, this was in my kitchen, smelling delicious and begging to be eaten.

Mmmm...I think I'll go downstairs and get some more. :)
We  had no problem obliging and dug in to bowls topped with whipped cream, or in Brent's case chocolate ice cream and whipped cream...lol, love that man! :)

A few notes and then I'll get to the recipe for you.

  • This is one of those magic cake recipes.  As you assemble the layers DO NOT STIR!  Add each layer gently, not mixing at all, and as it bakes the batter will rise up to the top, creating a lovely crust.
  • I used an 8x8 glass pyrex baking dish.  It was a tad small and ended up bubbling over (hence the foil underneath the pan in the picture).  Next time, and there will be a next tiime, I'll use a 9x9 or double it and throw it in a 9x13.  If you don't have a 9x9 just put a foil lined pan underneath your baking dish to prevent a sticky mess.
  • The recipe calls for a stick of melted butter in the pan, but I thought it was too much.  Maybe it would have worked out better if my pan had been bigger, but I had about a quarter cup of melted butter puddled on the top of my cobbler when I pulled it out of the oven.  I think next time I'll just melt half a stick of butter in the pan.
  • You can use this as a base recipe for any fruit cobbler.  I think it would make an amazing apple cobbler - yumm!!  If you want to make a berry cobbler Lisa suggests, and I agree, making the simple syrup, letting it cool and then stirring the berries in right before you spoon it over the melted butter and batter, otherwise you'll end up with a jam cobbler...That's what I did here:  cooked the peaches and simple syrup, set them aside to cool while I made the batter and then stirred in the raspberries right before spooning it all on top.
Now, on to this delicious recipe!

Butterscotch Caramel Peach Cobbler

For the peach layer:
1.5 - 2lbs of fresh peaches, pealed, pitted and sliced. (about 3-4 large peaches or 3-4 cups)
3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar (I think ours was light brown...it was good though!)
1/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Water
1 Cup Fresh Raspberries (Optional)

For the Batter:
1 Stick or 1/2 Cup Butter, melted in baking dish
1 Cup Flour
1.5 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Milk (If you want a thicker crust only use 1/2 Cup)
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F
2.  Combine brown sugar, water and 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan and mix well.  Bring to a boil and simmer until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Stir in sliced peaches, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand while preparing batter.
3.  Melt the stick of butter in your baking dish.
4.  In a bowl, combine dry batter ingredients.  Slowly pour milk and vanilla in, stirring until smooth.
5.  Pour batter over melted butter, don't stir!  The butter will float to the top, but that's okay.
6.  If using berries, stir them into the syrup mixture now.  Then carefully spoon the fruit and syrup over the batter.  Again, don't stir!  Keep those three layers as separated as possible
7.  Place in the oven (I put a foil lined cookie sheet on the bottom rack in case of spillage) and bake for 40-50 minutes.  The batter rises to the top while cooking and will be golden brown when it's done.  Serve warm with whipped cream, ice cream, yogurt, whatever suits your fancy!
8.  Enjoy! :)

So, there you have it!  I hope you try this out, especially as the summer progresses and peaches become more readily available!

Keep giggling!
Michelle

Once Upon a Time, I Blogged...

Like I've said before, I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing....but you can't say I didn't warn you! :D

So, what have we been up to, you ask?  Well, let me tell you!

Last time I blogged I shared a delicious recipe with you - did anyone make that ice cream?  It was seriously to die for!  The best ice cream of my life!  I can't wait until next Easter so I can buy more of those mini creme eggs and make it again! :)

Before that post though, there was a recap post leaving you hanging with what happened to our lives after our trip to Utah in October and our adventures in Seattle to see Wicked!  A lot has happened since October, and I'm not very good at blogging so nobody knows!  Okay, so chances are that if you read our blog you are family or we know you in real life and we're probably Facebook friends so you really are privy to what's going on in our lives (I really just wanted to use the word "privy"...).  And our lives are so exciting...let me tell you...*cue crickets chirping*...Okay, so yeah...we're actually kind of boring.  Anyways, enough of this rambling paragraph.  Here's what we've been up to since October (yikes!  That was forever ago...)

So, the holiday season was lovely.  We did Thanksgiving out in Port Townsend with family on my mom's side.  Delicious food and good times were had by all. :)  Christmas we stayed pretty local.  Brent's family, except for his oldest sister and her family, came over for a few days leading up to Christmas and a day or two after.  We had a full house!  People were sleeping in every room, including the laundry room/pantry!  It was crazy and fun and wonderful!  We did Christmas Eve and morning here and then we all went to go see Les Mis - which was amazing!  After Les Mis, Brent and I made the rounds to go see my family and finally came home and passed out - it was a busy day!  New Year's Eve was just a quiet night at home, watching the Space Needle Fireworks on Komo and toasting with Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. :)

I continued to work at Eddie Bauer through the holiday season and into the new year.  I quit at the beginning of February after 2.5 years back from school and almost a year before going to school.  I originally put in my 2 weeks because I thought I had another job lined up, but that fell through.  I probably could have stayed on at EB, but you know how it is when you've already mentally said goodbye to a place - I was done and a little burnt out on retail.  Since then, I haven't really been looking for a new job.  We only have one car and live almost 3 miles from the nearest bus stop, so I've just been staying home and trying to be all Suzy home-maker. ;)

On Valentine's Day, Brent interviewed for a new job in downtown Bellevue and then we headed down to Sumner for a Valentine's tea at The Secret Garden Tea Room.  I've been there several times with family and friends, but this was Brent's first time there - and I'm so glad he enjoyed it! :)  It's an old Victorian mansion turned into a tea room and gift shop and it's just lovely!  They serve full English High Tea  services, along with light teas and a lunch menu.  I highly recommend checking it out! : )

My husband is kind of a ham...and I love him, a lot. :)
About a week after Valentine's Day, we took a weekend trip down to our honeymoon spot in Gig Harbor.  It was so nice to just get away and celebrate us for a few days!  We stayed at the same place that we went to on our honeymoon, The Waterfront Inn and in the same room even (they only have a few rooms).  It's a cute little place, right on the water and down the street from Anthony's.  The only bummer was that since our honeymoon they've stopped serving breakfast. :(  We are so glad that we chose to go somewhere close and affordable on our honeymoon - it's so nice to be able to go back and not break the bank doing so!
This is the view from the door of our room - isn't it wonderful!

Night time view of the harbor.  Gig Harbor is such a cute place!
This is the back of the inn.  Our room is the bottom left of the picture.
They have kayaks available for the use of the guests, so Brent took one out for a bit.  I stayed firmly on solid ground, although he did manage to coax me out on the scary, unstable floating dock to help him get the kayak in and out of the water.
He went pretty far out into the harbor.  He had a good time out there. :)
I promise he wore a life jacket - you can see it on the dock in the lower right corner of the picture!  He took it off to make it easier to get out of the kayak.
Brent got the job that he interviewed for and started work as a valet for the Hyatt at the beginning of March.  So far, he's doing great there!  His good work ethic and responsible nature are being recognized and he may end up with a promotion soon, but nothing is for certain yet.  It's not the easiest job and the environment is definitely not as wholesome as his last job (which was working in the cafeteria at the LDS temple in Bellevue), but we have definitely felt like he was lead to this job for a reason!  What a blessing to be able to rely on the Lord to help us in all aspects of our lives! :)

Brent is still doing school through Brigham Young University Idaho's online program.  Things are going well there and and he is working so hard!  I'm so proud (in a righteous way! ;) ) of him and all his hard work as he balances almost full time work with online classes!  He's such a wonderful example to me! <3

Since about March I have been helping out Brent's older brother and his wife by watching their little girl, Edie.  I watched her for a few weeks when they were between nannies, but now I just look forward to spending most of my Fridays with our adorable niece.  She is almost 18 months and when she says "Aunt Chelle!" my heart kind of melts. :)
How adorable is she?! :)
On March 26th, Brent's sister, Julie, had a lovely baby girl!  A few weeks later their son Henry, who is 4.5, came to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house for his spring break!!  It was so fun to have him here with us and to get to play with him.  Grandma was able to be home from work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but I got some one-on-one Henry time on Tuesday and Thursday. :)  We watched Star Wars III and went and saw The Croods.  We ate at McDonald's and played in the Play Place and we bought sidewalk chalk and played Hopscotch!  Edie joined us on Friday and we all had so much fun playing together!  I just love all of our nieces and nephews so much - I'm so glad that I became an aunt when I married Brent - it is so much fun!  It kind of blows my mind though when I think about how I can love our nieces and nephews SO much....I have no idea how my heart is going to avoid exploding when we have our first child...the amount of love parents have for their children is beyond me!
My sweet Henry!  This was our Star Wars night, complete with popcorn and ice cream! :)
"Letterscotch!  I love letterscotch!" 
He told me to draw Snow White's castle.  I think it looks more like Rapunzel's castle, but it was acceptable. :)
We went and saw The Croods, which was actually a pretty good movie!  Henry had lots of fun eating popcorn and playing the race car game in the lobby. :)
On Friday, Grandma made a small fort for Henry and Edie to play in - they had so much playing together and later Henry got to eat his pizza in the fort! :)
So, that pretty much brings us up to speed!  I do have a few recipes I want to share with you, but that will have to wait until another post, because this one is getting pretty long For now, we're just hanging out at home (well, that's mostly me) and working and schooling (and that's all Brent). We do have some fun things coming up in the next couple of weeks.  My Grandma's birthday tea party that my sisters and I are putting together is this coming weekend.  Brent's oldest sister and her family fly in from Boston in about a week and a  half and they'll be here for a few weeks.  Brent finishes another semester of school at the end of this month and then we'll be moving!  Not very many people know about that though, so...SURPRISE!!! :D  We're going to try not to make a habit out of moving ever summer, but so far we're 2 for 2.  This next move should last us a while though.  Brent's parents have bought a second house about a mile away as an investment property - and they want us to be their first renters!  It has been absolutely wonderful living here with them (we all get along great!), but it will be so nice to have our own space again!  We plan on being there for the next 3-5 years and it definitely gives us some room to expand our family (this is NOT an announcement, just so you know!) since it has 4 bedrooms.  It also gives some extra rooms for when all of Brent's family comes for sleepovers - yeah!!  Party at Uncle Brent and Aunt Chelle's house!!!  Haha!  We'll post more pictures once we get the keys, which should be in a few weeks!! :)  Until then, here's a picture of the front of the house. :)
Soon to be Home Sweet Home! :)
Well, my dears, I think that's about all for this post!  I'll try and blog again soon!  Until then...

Keep giggling!
 <3 Michelle