S'mores Pie

I don't know about you, but I love, love, love a s'more.  The whole process of picking out my marshmallows (yes, that was plural), roasting them over the fire, the melting chocolate, and the graham crackers.  I could go on, because they are so delicious and a perfect summer treat.  I usually have two.  I mean, if I'm going to be hanging out at a campfire, which doesn't happen that often, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity, right?  Besides, I probably hiked to the camp fire spot.

Well, I recently came across this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen blog for a S'mores Pie.  It looked divine and a great way to enjoy a s'more inside the A/C.  That's important here in Arkansas. ;)

I made this for a dinner I went to recently.  We finished the pie that night, and my roommate and I were trying to figure out a reason to make another one ASAP.  

The pie has a soft cookie crust, ooey gooey marshmallow cream, a layer of yummy chocolate bars, a sprinkling of mini marshmallows, a top cookie crust and finishing touch of chocolate chips.  The chocolate melts, and all the marshmallows bubble up and become toasty on top.  

This is definitely a crowd pleaser.  Once you have a slice, you might need a second one (not that I'm speaking from experience or anything).

Here is the link to the original recipe.  I did make one alteration-- the original calls for 8 Hershey bars, but I only used 4, which turned out to be plenty!

Peach Cobbler

If any of you have peaches that need to be consumed, I have a delicious method for you to do so.  I know they taste great just by themselves, but, oh, they are heavenly when they are baked into a cobbler and served with homemade vanilla ice cream.  I have been craving peach cobbler-- it just tastes like summer!

I stumbled across this blog called The Law Student's Wife last night and enjoyed looking at a few of her recipes.  She has a few that look wonderful.  But, one in particular caught my eye....

Yes, you guessed it-- Prize Peach Cobbler!

And yes, you remembered that I had peaches from the fruit stand from this weekend.  No, they didn't make their way into the freezer, but instead several of them were baked into my cobbler. :)

Here's the recipe.  I did make one alteration-- I added a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.  It was so, so good.  I just have to stop there or else I would go on all night!

Prize Peach Cobbler

From “The Law Student’s Wife”, with a slight addition

Serves 6-8

3/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoon baking powder 

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided 

3/4 cup milk 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 

3 cup fresh, ripe peaches* (5-6 peaches) 

a dash of cinnamon

a dash of nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix in 1 cup sugar. Slowly stir in milk to make batter.
2. Melt butter in deep casserole dish (about 3 quarts). Pour batter over melted butter. Do not stir.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully add peaches (I use tongs) and boil for about 1 minute. Remove peaches from pot and plunge into a bowl of cold water to stop cooking. Skins can now be easily removed with fingers. Slice peaches into bite-sized pieces.
4. In a clean bowl, Mix the peeled, sliced peaches and 3/4 cup sugar thoroughly and carefully spoon them over the batter..
5. Bake 1 hour. Batter should be nicely browned on top before removing from oven. Top with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.

*Ingredient tip: Be sure peaches are ripe and slightly soft—place in brown paper bag on counter-top for a few days to ripen if necessary.

Berries!

If any of you had any doubt that I was my mother's daughter, our shared love of fresh picked berries will cast out any remaining doubt.  She loves going to pick berries and loves having them in her freezer to use year round.

Today, I got my berry picking on.  I started off the day with some pancakes with a blueberry sauce and a dollop of ricotta cheese.  I actually still have a few cups of blueberries left from last year and used them to make this sauce (just one more reason to pick berries!).

I have never really like ricotta until recently, and let me tell you, it's good!  I'm a fan.  It is delicious on these pancakes.  The blueberry sauce was warm and it softened the cheese.  

Give it a try, and I'd be willing to bet that you will clean your plate like me.

But, it's not these pancakes or the sauce that I'm all excited about.  It's the berry farm that's 30 minutes outside of town.  As a kid, I remember being taken out to the berry farm to pick berries and what I thought was way too early in the morning.  I never understood why we had to get so many berries.  It was so hot, even for early in the morning.

But now that I am all grown up, I'm glad my mother taught me how to pick berries like a champ.  Seriously, it wouldn't be summer for me unless I go out and pick berries.  I found a berry farm near where I live, and I just have to go pick them to have them in my freezer.  I can't explain it-- it's like a security blanket.  I also just love having berries to make jam.  Homemade jam is out of this world!

 

I know this looks like a ton of berries for a single girl, but hey, they will all get eaten.  These berries were huge and sweet and just falling off the bushes they were so perfectly ripe.  It's good that they don't count how many berries you eat while you pick... :)

On my way home, I passed a fruit stand that was selling peaches.  I quickly stopped to pick some of those up, too.  I'll be enjoying those this week, as well.  I think tomorrow's project will be to get some of those in the freezer, too!

If you've never picked berries, you need to quickly find the nearest berry farm and start picking!