Peach and Honey Baked Oatmeal

In an attempt to stop procrastinating and start 2012 fresh (both in blog world, and in the real world), I have decided to just skip writing posts about all of the dishes I made the last several months, and instead just post some year-end roundup photos.... One exception to this fast-track blogging has to be the peach baked oatmeal that I made this fall with the last round of fresh peaches available at the store.

I am fairly obsessed with baked oatmeal. Since discovering it about a year ago, I have made it at least twice a month. My best varieties always include fresh fruit and this peach version was just to die for. It was so good that I'm tempted to see if canned or frozen peaches could even come close to emulating the amazing flavor of summer in this bowl.

Peach Baked Oatmeal: 

- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup (I use 1% milk)
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 peach, diced
- sweetener of choice (I used about 1.5 TBSP of honey)
- butter for pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter pan-- I use a mini pie dish, but two smaller ramekins could also work. Whisk together egg and milk and combine with oatmeal. Sprinkle in nutmeg, peaches, and drizzle sweetener over the top. Bake for for 20-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the insides are ooey gooey. Serves 2 (but really 1, because I eat the whole thing every time).

Peach, Pecan, and Bourbon Crisp

So, at some point this summer I made an amazing peach (I told you I was obsessed) crisp. I don't remember at all what I made, but just that I put bourbon and brown sugar in with the peaches, and crushed pecans in the "crisp" portion. And it was delicious.

Peach Crumb Bars

Peach-mania 2011 continues. It wasn't enough to make peaches and cream pie, bourbon peach crisp, stone fruit pie, baked peach oatmeal, and a peach cherry upside down cake-- My favorite fruit of the summer has found its way into yet another dessert.

I was on dessert duty for this week's "vampire night" and I was not only inspired by the sweet taste of summer I call peaches, but by this recipe from Smitten Kitchen (originally from AllRecipes). Obviously I swapped out blueberries for fresh peaches, and I made some other changes to enhance the new flavors.


Crumb Crust:
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 sticks butter
1 egg

Fruit Filling:
6 peaches, cored and diced (peels on because I like the texture, and as previously mentioned, I am lazy)
6 TBSP corn starch
1/3 cup sugar
zest and juice of one lemon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 pan. Comine ingredients for crumb crust until crumbly (mine was like a mixture of pea-size lumps and grainy/sandy stuff). Press half of mixture into bottom of pan. Combine peaches with lemon juice and zest and toss with dry ingredients until coated. Distribute evenly over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly stuff over the top and pop in the oven for 45 minutes. Cool completely and then transfer to refrigerator. Once chilled, cut into pieces and enjoy!

These bars are buttery and crumbly (as advertised) and are sweet but not too sweet. I also love how the nutmeg enhances the natural sweetness and flavor of the peaches. I am pretty sure I could eat the whole pan!

Stone Fruit Mini-Pie

I may have a problem;  I cannot stop buying peaches. I could eat them three meals a day, but somehow I cannot eat them fast enough, which means I constantly have overripe peaches on hand and need something to do with them.

A few weeks ago, I had a few of these yummy fuzzy babies in my bowl, along with some plums (which I always buy and then never want to eat) so I threw together a mini-pie.

I had half a pie crust in my mini-pan, along with two diced peaches, a diced plum, two tablespoons of brown sugar, and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg (my other obsession).

Yum. Especially a la mode, but that's another story.

Cherry Peach Upside Down Cake

What do you get when you have two overripe peaches, a pint of cherries on the brink of moldiness,  and a box of yellow cake mix? A cherry peach upside down cake! Or maybe I'll call it something more pretentious like a "stone fruit inverted confection" to equalize the whole "cake mix" thing....

Anywho-- this baby was good. Despite using summer ingredients, the cake is spicy and almost fruit-cakey. It was super yummy and I am taking the rest of it to work to share (because I do not need to eat a whole cake! It's still swimsuit season for goodness sake!)

First, I melted 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar in the bottom of a 9 inch round springform pan. Then, I sprinkled in a tsp of nutmeg (might be a little heavy, but I loooove nutmeg) and a dash of cinnamon and my fruit which was all sliced up. I tossed it around so it was all coated in a caramel-y goodness. Then, I poured the cake mix over the top and baked for 45 minutes.

Flipped it over and voila! The ooey-gooey caramel on top leaves the cake glistening and moist and the aroma of fruit and nutmeg filled the air. YUM. This would be heaven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Easy peasy, and so yummy you will forget it came out of a box.

Peaches and Cream Pie

So, my memory card deleted and I have no photos of this but man oh man did it taste good. I made it for my "True Blood Supper Club" with friends Lisa and Mandy and we ate 3/4 of it in one sitting!

I was inspired by this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I followed it pretty closely except:
- I cut peaches into sixths instead of quarters and I still thought they were a little bit too big.
- I made my own fake creme fraiche by whisking together whipping cream and sour cream (equal parts)... and I think I used more of it in the pie than was recommended and I served it on top of the pie later.
- I used a store bought crust *hangs head in shame* and I didn't parbake it ahead of time b/c I'm impatient

Store-bought crust or not, this was freaking delicious. It wasn't too sweet and the integrity of the perfect summer peach was really upheld. I probably could have eaten more, but 3/4 of the pie seemed like enough for one night. :)

Peach Baked Oatmeal

I have been on a peach kick lately, haven't I? I guess there isn't another fruit that so perfectly captures the feeling of a warm summer day. This morning, because it's a Saturday, and because I have some extra ripe peaches, I decided to make myself a decadent but hearty treat. Baked Oatmeal! I did a twist on my original recipe.

• 1/2 cup quick cooking Irish oats (b/c that's what i have)
• 1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP milk (I have 1% organic)
• 1 egg (organic, free range b/c that's how I roll)
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp Almond extract
• 1 TBSP peach syrup (my sisters live in Georgia and gave me this as part of a gift last year, any sweetener would be good). 
• 1 peach, diced (peels on b/c I'm lazy and don't mind the texture)
• honey to drizzle on top

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a baking dish-- a large ramekin would work, I have mini-pie pans that I love. Mix ingredients in a bowl until combined and put in pan. Drizzle with honey and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

What results is a dish of oatmeal that is golden brown on the outside, and gooey and creamy on the inside. It is sweet, but not too sweet, it is warm and soothing, and is jam packed full of healthy things like fiber and protein. My perfect breakfast!

*photos to come

Tropical Sangria-- Royal Wedding Style

Somewhere inside of me lives a tiny girl who likes to believe in fairytales. Well, that girl came out to play on April 29th-- that is, the Royal Wedding day. While I vowed not to be one of those people who stayed up all night, I thought that DVR-ing the event seemed like perfectly acceptable behavior for a mature 28 year old woman. (Forget the fact that I woke up at 4 to make sure it was recording, and then stayed in bed for an hour at 7 waiting for the first kiss). What seemed even more acceptable was to share this event with other mature 20 something women. If everyone was watching and interested, then it couldn't possibly be silly or childish to be excited about this, right?

Anyway, I hosted a casual affair, and while I originally thought of making a British meal, when my friend Lisa offered to make so-good-you-won't-care-you-gained-five-pounds mac and cheese, I quickly accepted. And my friend Mandy brought strawberry margarita pie which was just as glorious as it sounds. So, I decided to be completely lazy and provide a beverage. My dad gave me an awesome juicer for Christmas, and I was looking through the recipes that came with it and decided to make Tropical Sangria. It was surprisingly delicious. It was very light, and sweet but not sugary. I think the canteloupe was the most interesting part. Though the flavor is recognizable, it is so unique to drink it instead of eat it.

• 1 bottle white wine -- mine was actually peach wine that my sister got me in Georgia. I liked the peach flavor so much that I think I would include peach juice if I ever made this again with other wine. 
• a few shots of brandy (this is optional, and I didn't include it since nobody was really interested in drinking too much)
• juice of 1/2 canteloupe
• juice of 1/2 orange (slice other half for garnish)
• juice of 1/2 apple (slice other half for garnish)

Combine ingredients in a pitcher and serve over ice.