Not Peach Crisp

Readers of this blog may remember that some of the few modern cookbooks I own are by Esther Brody, including her 500 Muffin book, 250 Cookies, etc. This is Peach Crumble from '250 best Cobblers, Custards, Cupcakes, Bread Puddings & More'. Esther's recipes usually have unusual ingredients and can turn out very well, but not always...

I've deviated enough from this recipe that I feel no copyright qualms about putting it in here.

I'm a magazine junkie. My mother, sister and I trade our subscriptions, so on any given month I read Real Simple, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, People, West Suburban Living, Vanity Fair, Better Homes and Gardens, KnitSimple and occasional picked up issues of various cooking, quilting knitting magazines and more. I'd recently cut out a recipe for Peach Cobbler that looked fabulous, but used 1 cup of whipping cream. 1/4 cup WC is a huge amount of Weight Watchers points, as I recall from when I lost 30+ pounds on that system. So I try to avoid it. I could have just substituted like I usually do w/o worrying about it, but I found this recipe, and it looked easy...

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 packed brown sugar, divided (missed the divided part, so keep your brown sugar handy if you want to make my sweet version)

1/4 tsp salt (I always do a pinch)

1/4 cup butter or margarine (folks, I used 1.5 sticks after a little trouble...)

6 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and thinly sliced

1/4 tsp. mace (skipped it, as I don't like mace)

Preheat oven to 350 F

6-cup casserole dish, buttered

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar (missed the 1/2 cup part) and salt and mix well. Cut in butter with your hands (gross for both the recipe and your hands) or a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Amy's notes. Um, there was no crumbly anywhere to be seen. I added a few more tablespoons to this powder mixture and still not too many crumbles. At this point, my Father came over and looked in the bowl. He asked if this was a modern cookbook. For someone with Alzheimer's he is still very aware and funny. Also he has no qualms about trying anything I make, which is why I often test things out when he and Mom are over. I decided to move on with the recipe.

2. In a large bowl, combine peach slices, the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and mace and toss to blend. (What? Is this a salad? I had to use more brown sugar since I had dumped it all in for the previous step. Plus I didn't want to dirty up another bowl, so I sprinkled this with the peaches in the casserole dish a bit.) Spoon into prepared casserole dish. (waste of good 'large bowl')

3. Spread crumbly mixture over the peaches and pat down lightly.

Amy's notes: Um, this came to the top of my dish, and I 'patted' pretty hard with my hands. It was still all powdery.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

After 20 minutes of uncovered baking (no instructions on that), it was still powdery on top with no evidence of coming together. I melted another 4 tablespoons of margarine and poured it over the top. I then covered the dish and baked it the remaining 25 minutes.

As you can see from the picture it was pretty moist after all this. In fact, I'd have to say it was saturated. We still ate it with yogurt, though it was hard to find the peach slices in those servings.

Yum, yum, especially if you like very very very sweet desserts.

I spoke too soon about Debbie Macomber. A character from a previous book who had adopted after failed IVF came back pregnant, and just 'giddy' with excitement. I can't believe it. Honestly - why isn't adoption good enough in these books? That miracle pregnancy after adoption only happens in about 8% of real cases in life, by the way. I feel it is extremely unlikely that my husband and I could have made another nicer than our son, and I do not hope for a miracle pregnancy while my husband and I adopt again. Some of that may have to do with the titanium in my spine from an operation but still we've always felt blessed by adoption! I may have to send Debbie M. an email.

On to better books. Halfway to Half Way by Suzann Ledbetter is shaping up nicely. This was a very cute series that she has not added to in a few years about a woman who is the manager of a retirement community. She's young and newly engaged in this one, but her residents still try to run her life. It's hilarious.

Have a great holiday weekend!