Perfectly Peachy Decadence.

I dread the end of summer. 

I miss the kids when they're at school, although I do manage to get more written without their company.

I miss the amazing tomatoes from the garden, which are now shrimpled, brown, ungainly vines.

I miss the incredible sweet corn from our local farmer. And I'm holding a little grudge, too, because he assured me there would be corn until the end of August.

Excuse me? It's only August 22. Give me my corn!

I know that soon—too soon—I'll be missing those drippy, hurt-your-teeth-with-sweetness South Carolina peaches. I'm currently eating my weight in peaches daily.

Speaking of weight...guess who lost 25 lbs? Still, there's more to go, but for now I'm celebrating.

And you know how I did it?

By eating the most delicious, fresh, amazing local fruits and veggies instead of junk. And eating less.

Wow, it's rocket science.

Still, this isn't about diets and weight loss or the fact that I did just eat a handful of Lucky Charms. This is about celebrating summer and gorging on delicacies that we'll miss when it's cold, gray, and nasty.

It's about peach crisp.

Not cobbler. Crisp.

I've never been a cobbler girl. My dad used to make cobbler, using the doughy Bisquick mixture as the topping. I would scrape off the mushy biscuit wannabes to get to the good stuff underneath, still wishing for a bit of sweet, crispy topping.

When faced with an enormous load of peaches I bought for my lunches, I realized we would soon host a fruit fly fest in our kitchen if I didn't use them quickly.

It was time for a crisp.

Naturally, I turned to my good friend, Alice Waters.

Alice never fails me. Not only is she my hero with her Edible Schoolyard project and Chez Panisse Restaurant, but she holds my hand when I have an overabundance of zucchini or spinach and no creative culinary thoughts in my brain. Alice doesn't bully or tease about my domestic shortcomings—but she insists on the real deal.

Fresh food. Local. Sustainable.

She makes cooking—and eating—a pleasure.

Alice's The Art of Simple Food is my go-to cookbook, used more than any of our dozens of kitchen guides. When I was a college student, my mom presented me with my first cookbook: The Joy of Cooking.

I'm not quite sure what she was thinking. After all, in college we lived on Raman noodles and Avanti's pizza bread. Cooking didn't coincide with my lifestyle.

Still, I know many college students are much more evolved due to our local food revolution. Our son and his girlfriend often cook elaborate meals with the ingredients from our gardens. I think they would actually enjoy The Art of Simple Food.

But they can't have my copy.

I still look up the recipe every time I make peach crisp.

Last night, I opened Alice's book and tackled the pile of peaches while Peter and Mikey went to soccer practice. By the time they came home, the house smelled amazing.

Of course, peach crisp alone is delicious. Peach crisp with homemade whipped cream, however, is divine.

So, to help you celebrate the dwindling summer days, I'm sharing with you Alice's recipe for Peach Crisp, and my own recipe for homemade whipped cream. You may need to travel to SC for the peaches, because you know we grow the best peaches in the country, right? We even have the giant peach to prove it. 

(Or, as our oldest son said when he was a little guy: “Mommy! Look at the big butt!”)

Peach Crisp
Slightly adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters

Ingredients:

4 pounds ripe peaches

1 tablespoon sugar (if needed—check the sweetness of the peaches first)

1-1/2 tablespoons flour

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

To peel the peaches, use a sharp knife and cut an “X” at the base of each peach. Dip the peaches in boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds, then peel off the skins. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit, and slice into 1/2-inch pieces. (Be careful—those naked peaches are slippery little buggers. My left ring finger is proof. Ouch.)

Add the sugar and flour to the peaches and mix well. Place the fruit in a 2-quart baking dish to await the topping.

Crisp Topping

(Note: Alice's version calls for nuts, which I don't use. If you want a nuttier crisp topping, toast 2/3 cups of nuts—pecans, walnuts, or almonds—allow to cool, then chop coarsely. Add to mixture.)

Ingredients

1-1/4 cup flour

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt (leave out if using salted butter)

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used a little more—we like lots of cinnamon.)

12 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces.

First, thoroughly mix all of the ingredients except the butter. Add butter a bit at a time, mixing into the flour mixture with your fingers, a pastry blender, or stand mixer using the paddle attachment. (Because I'm a lazy cook, I use the mixer.) Work until the mixture comes together and has a crumbly texture.

Spoon crisp topping evenly over the top of the fruit mixture. Place in 375-degree oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Homemade whipped cream

Ingredients:

1 pint whipping cream

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add all ingredients into bowl of stand mixer. Mix on high for 2-3 minutes or until correct whipped cream consistency. (Check mixture frequently after two minutes to ensure that you're not making butter!) Can store in the refrigerator for several days.

Serve with peach crisp. Or eat by the spoonfuls without any adornment, as Kiki is known to do.

Happy end of summer fruit binging!

XO ~

Julie 
P.S. Confession: I only wish Alice Waters was my best friend. Sadly, we've never met...

About an apple.

It began with an apple. 

Years ago, when our oldest son, Tyler, was nine years old, we invited one of his neighborhood friends to join us on our annual apple orchard outing. Will is two years younger than Ty, and it just breaks my heart when I see this tall, muscular GUY next door shooting baskets. He's the youngest of Ty's neighborhood gang and always fought to keep up with the older boys. Soon he, too, will be off to college.

Sorry. A sentimental Mom-moment distracted me.

Anyway, we were out among the trees, and Peter picked a few apples. He handed one to each boy, then took a bite of his.

Will looked appalled.

“You can't do that,” he said, horrified.

“Don't worry, honey, we'll pay for everything when we get back.” What an honest boy, I thought.

“No,” he said, eyes wide. “You can't eat that.”

“Why not?”

Will looked at me like I was from another planet.

“It's not from Publix.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
It's fall, and I'm thinking about apples. And remembering Will's innocence.

I'm also hoping that our kids always know the origins of their food, whether or not they actually eat it. (That would be asking too much, with the exception of apples. Oh, and strawberries.)

With the arrival of fall, I know I'm not alone in my apple preoccupation. My Facebook page is filled with pictures of friends' families hunting Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, Jonagolds.

This year, we branched out and tried a different orchard, one in North Carolina. Normally, we visit a local orchard that's ten minues from our house—but truthfully, we've always gone for the experience rather than the apples. The apples at our local orchard are tasteless, even a little mealy. This year, I wanted a good variety of flavorful apples, even if it meant forsaking our (very) local orchard.

I'm glad we did.

Sky Top Orchard is exactly that—a lush, rolling, mountain-top orchard with stunning views. Located in Flat Rock, North Carolina, we visited early in the season, but the parking area was packed. With 40 acres to roam, though, the only places we really bumped into other visitors (besides the parking lot) was in the apple cider donut line.

Can you believe that I never tasted an apple cider donut before this fall? It's was pure sugar and grease and deliciousness. Heaven.

I'm not an apple expert. I've gone apple picking every year for probably the past 18 years...and I still don't remember which varieties are tart (besides Granny Smith), which are good for cooking, which are best fresh. During our apple hunting, I was certain Peter searched for a variety of apple that didn't exist (“Jonathan” versus “Jonagold”—the one I was familiar with). I started to tell him in my know-it-all wife voice that his search was futile...until we found his variety already pre-picked.

I just hate when he's right.

After a lovely family outing, I decided it was time to increase my knowledge of apple varieties. I started doing some research and found a great article on Saveur. It's my go-to guide now.

Do we honestly think I stopped there?

I'm now completely smitten with heirloom apples.

(Poor Peter, I haven't told him about my newest obsession. He'll be reading it here.)

“Jonathan” is an heirloom variety. In fact, it's among the 129 varieties listed in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste.

Do you know about the Ark of Taste? Here's a quote from Slow Food's website:

“The Ark is an international catalog of foods that are threatened by industrial standardization, the regulations of large-scale distribution and environmental damage. In an effort to cultivate consumer demand—key to agricultural conservation—only the best tasting endangered foods make it onto the Ark.

“Since 1996, more than 800 products from over 50 countries have been added to the international Ark of Taste. The US Ark of Taste profiles over 200 rare regional foods, and is a tool that helps farmers, ranchers, fishers, chefs, retail grocers, educators and consumers celebrate our country's diverse biological, cultural and culinary heritage.”

The apple is an American icon. However, of the approximate 14,000 varieties that evolved from the seeds brought into North America by English settlers, today only 11 varieties comprise 90 percent of all apples consumed in the U.S. Those 11 varieties that dominate the produce aisles are grown in large commercial orchards, easily packed and shipped to far away locales. The perfect, glossy globes attract consumers—but flavor is sacrificed for shipablility and presentation.

One of the goals of Slow Food is to make consumers aware of varieties that are dying out due to mass production. It's Economics 101. By experiencing the unique, richer flavor of heirloom varieties, consumers will begin requesting heirlooms, and farmers will find a market to continue producing tasty, regional fruits. Sounds simplistic, doesn't it?

Of course, it's a much larger challenge.

So, in my own small effort to support heirloom varieties, I'm researching nurseries and varieties and figuring out how to tell Peter that we need a small orchard near the river.

I'm sure he'll be delighted. Stay tuned...

Until then, I'm taking an inventory of the apples waiting in the refrigerator. Not only did we bring home dozens of apples from our family's Sky Top outing, Michael and I also brought home apples from his kindergarten field trip. 

It was a little sad. The kids picked apples—out of bins. So now, there's a generation of kids who think apples come from bins on farms. Hmm. Somehow, I don't think that was the point of the field trip.

Still, we are—literally—bursting with apples.

Fortunately, my family likes apples. They especially like apple desserts. Rather than my standard apple pie, I decided to try something new. I found a recipe on the blog, Orangette, for an excellent “Apple Tart Cake.” The author of the blog, Molly Wizenberg, stated that the tart is even better the second day. She's right. If you've never visited Orangette, please do. You'll be delighted.

So, before I get back to researching which heirloom apple trees would best fit my family's needs—some for eating fresh, some for cooking—I'm heading to the kitchen to make another Apple Tart Cake. You really want to try this recipe—it's easy, delicious, uses pantry staples, and has a rustic appeal. (My cake is not as pretty as the one on the Orangette blog, but it was tasty.)

You can use any variety of good, tart apples. What are your favorite varieties for cooking or fresh eating? I'd love to know.

So, head to the kitchen, pull out those apples from your orchard visit, and start peeling. You'll be so glad you did.

Apple Tart Cake
Adapted from Orangette, originally posted January 19, 2009

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
5 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced very thinly

For topping:
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

Combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder in a bowl. (I used my KitchenAid mixer, which worked fine, but the original recipe calls for use of a food processor.) Add the butter. Mix until no large lumps remain. Add the vanilla and the egg. Blend well. Mixture will be crumbly. Dump mixture into the prepared springform pan, using your fingers to gently press it along the bottom of the pan. If the dough sticks to your fingers, like it did with mine, just put a tad of flour on your fingertips. Make a slight, gentle, upward curve at the edges to form a low rim. Arrange the apple slices over the base in a tight circular pattern. Really overlap them. I didn't  overlap the apples the first time I made it for fear they wouldn't cook well. My mistake. Place  the pan on the middle rack in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes.

While the cake/tart is baking, prepare the topping. Combine the ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk to blend well. After the cake has baked for 45 minutes, remove it from the oven, and pour the topping evenly over it. Bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the topping looks set. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, and cool for 20 minutes. Then run a thin knife around the edge to release any areas that may have stuck, and remove the sides of the pan. Cool completely before serving.

Enjoy!