peach frozen yogurt

This just might be the simplest recipe i've posted. Some peaches, a cup of yogurt and some sugar. Ta-da, perfect frozen yogurt.

Peach frozen yogurt

1.5 pounds peaches
1/2 cup water
scant 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup plain yogurt
a few drops of lemon juice

Peel the peaches, slice them in half and remove the pits. Cut into chunks and add them to a medium size pot with the water and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add sugar, transfer to a different bowl and refrigerate. When the peaches are completely cool, add them to a food processor with the yogurt and lemon juice. Puree until almost smooth, but still some chunks.
Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.
Now sit down at your dining table and enjoy a big bowl.

. . .

This week I..

finished sewing a vintage inspired apron
bought a pumpkin (!!)
made a pumpkin spice latte
hung new bunting above our bed
cross-stitched a bicycle
and made the most delicious soft pretzels.. twice. (recipe below)












The most delicious soft pretzels
(wetzel and auntie annes who?)
Makes 8

(Note: Once you've shaped each pretzel you can then put them in the freezer. When you're ready to bake, just add 10-15 seconds to the boil time and a few minutes to bake time.)

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
  
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Source: Alton brown

Peach pie bites on a stick

I've been wanting to try these out since i saw them on bakerella.
and when i was trying to figure out this weeks menu for the farmers market i thought these little guys would be perfect. They were sort of time consuming but not too bad.


i didn't follow a recipe for the filling.. so if you have a favorite, go with that.

Peach pie bites

One recipe for a double pie crust (or store-bought)
3 peaches, skins removed and finely chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
egg white, for brushing


Stir together the peaches and brown sugar.

Roll out the pie dough pretty thin (thinner than you would a normal pie). For round pies, use a round cookie cutter (i didn't have one in the size i wanted so i used the lid to my glass teapot, whatever works.) For the rectangle pies, use a pizza cutter or knife.
Place the stick in the middle of the round/rectangle and spoon about a teaspoon of the pie mixture in the middle. Gently lay another round/rectangle on top. Press the edges together with a fork.
Brush the tops with egg white.
Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

nephew on the way

After many years of trying, plenty of heartache and lots of prayer, my oldest sister and her husband are expecting their first child in January. I couldn't be more excited for them.

As soon as they found out the sex, i couldn't resist picking out a little onsie to send.
And since baby things are the most fun to make, i whipped up a little bib too. which was so cute i almost wanted to keep it for myself.. ha!

xo.

soccer is funny

More pictures from when my brother in law and i were playing soccer on the beach.

i like how it looks like we're dancing.

p.s. i had NO idea what i was doing the entire time.

Tomato & Basil - two ways

Holy cow! I can't believe its the end of August. But hooray, that means almost the end of the hot weather. We only have to tough it out for a few more weeks. Then we'll be leaving here in september to make the long trek to weed california, where josh will be recording with the band for a month and I'll be heading up to washington with our kitty and we'll spend most of the trip there. (the recording process isn't cat friendly)

But anyway! On sunday I got a super strong craving for a tomato and basil bruschetta, and i immediately went to the store to pick up a baguette. It's one of my favorite things to eat... EVER. I really should be making it more often. A sunday lunch/dinner doesn't get much easier than this.

Bruschetta

6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more for bread, optional)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 baguette

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Put the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and basil in a bowl and mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the baguette in 1/2" slices and lightly brush one side with olive oil. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Spoon the mixture onto the bread.

(And be prepared to eat it all.)



Or you can also spoon the mixture on top of some pasta, like i did the next night. It was amazing. And just as easy.

All-purpose cleaner

This all-purpose cleaner is amazing. I cleaned our entire place with it this morning. I had just run out of this and i'm here to tell you, you can't tell the two apart. I decided on the peppermint castile soap, and i'd highly recommend it. It smells so good and refreshing. They sell it, along with a few others, at target and its on sale often. I'm looking forward to using it in more of my DIY cleaners.

All-purpose castile cleaner
Use on kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

2 teaspoons washing soda
4 teaspoons borax
1 teaspoon castile soap
4 cups hot water
10 drops of essential oil (I used tea tree, for its anti-bacterial properties)

and you'll obviously need a 32oz spray bottle.

Pour all ingredients into bottle and gently shake back and forth until the washing soda and borax has dissolved. Thats it!

Happy (safe) cleaning! and weekend too!

that one time i ALMOST met..

I have an old story to tell...

Rewind to march (wow that was 5 months ago). She & him was playing in savannah. five of us headed downtown early in the afternoon to kill time. On the way there we kept saying we were going to find zooey and talk to her, hug her..ect.
That turned into us (jokingly) pointing at random people/objects and saying 'there she is!'.
A few minutes later, we were walking down the street and stopped outside of a store, debated whether or not we wanted to go in, when someone (again, jokingly) said 'this looks like the kind of store she'd go into'. so we laughed and started heading up the stairs.

about halfway up the stairs i heard a familiar voice, and looked up and there was miss zooey and her band coming down the stairs. I turned around as she passed us and vanessa says 'i have no shame, i'm going after her'. So the two of us, ran back down the stairs (leaving the other friends in the dust), tried to quickly compose ourselves and make a plan for how we were going to approach her all while walking about 5 feet behind her.

Apparently we aren't so good at making plans. we followed her for probably ten blocks (if not more) and we we're even stopped at a crosswalk with her and still nothing. It seemed really awkward to approach her from behind. We started walking faster so we could pass them, just in case they noticed us and thought we were creepy.
A few minutes later they walked into a store, we debated.. then decided to go back and head in to the store and make our move.. tell her we are big fans and ask for a picture, then be on our way.

Then we got in there.. she was in a corner looking at clothing racks, then a few girls pulled out their cell phones and started sticking cameras in her face. LIKE RIGHT IN HER FACE. not 'hey can we get a picture with you' but straight up let me get a paparazzi picture of you. then she ran (quite literally) out of the store and took off down the street.

and just like that, we missed our chance.

and believe me, we didn't stop talking about it for HOURS.

but the concert was amazing.. her voice is angelic.

And yes, she is every bit as stunning in person as she is in photos.