Homemade Peach Crisp

I get so excited when peaches are in season as it is one of my favorite flavors of summer! Homemade peach crisp is a must to make a few times using the fresh peaches. The taste of fresh peaches with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg along with the oatmeal crisp is just delicious!! 

Every summer I try to can and freeze several cups of peaches to put up in the freezer or on my canned foods shelf to enjoy in the winter months. My husband's grandparents have a few peach trees on their farm and this year they produced exceptionally well, so of course we were sure to work up a good amount of peaches.

I like to can peaches and freeze them as well. I enjoy the canned peaches to eat right out of the can. They have are delicious and melt in your mouth. I like to freeze peaches to use for baking.

The frozen peaches are great to make peach crisp. But while the peaches are in season, I enjoy making it with fresh peaches. 

Homemade Peach Crisp 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 oats

1 cup butter - 2 sticks - cut into cubes

1 cup sugar 

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 cups peaches 

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, and butter. Blend together using a hand mixer until mixture becomes clumpy. This is your crisp topping, set aside. In another mixing bowl, combine the sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and mix together. Then add the peaches and mix. This is your peach layer. Pour the peach layer in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Then add the crisp topping layer over the peaches and spread evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.
Let cool slighly. Enjoy the homemade peach crisp warm or cool. Add ice cream to enjoy it a la mode!

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

The peach filling is so yummy!!

I love my crisp with extra crisp!

Add vanilla bean ice cream to make the homemade peach crisp extra delicious!! My favorite way to enjoy it!

What are Heirloom Tomatoes?

Heirloom tomatoes! You may have heard of them and even eaten them a few times. You might grow them in your garden, or even buy them at the farmers market/grocery store. August is a prime month for fresh homegrown tomatoes (although often times gardeners' tomatoes are ready sooner) One of my favorite vegetables to look forward to in the garden are the tomatoes, all different kinds. Let's talk a little about heirloom tomatoes in this post, one of my favorite edible parts of summer!

So what does heirloom mean for heirloom tomatoes?
For heirloom tomatoes the word heirloom refers to the tomato seeds that have been harvested from certain varieties and passed down for generations because of their favorable and desirable characteristics and qualities.

How are they grown?
Heirloom tomatoes are grown the same way as any other tomato. Here are some pictures of green heirloom tomatoes just a few weeks before they will start turning colors.

Why do people want specifically heirloom tomatoes?
Heirloom tomatoes have not be changed for traits such as shelf life, color, and size/uniformity like the average tomato you see more often. Heirloom tomatoes have more of what people call and "ugly" look to them with different coloring, deep cracks, and bumps.

Where can you buy heirloom tomatoes?
You can find heirloom tomatoes at most farmers markets. A lot of farms that offer a CSA membership might add heirloom tomatoes to their weekly shares as well. Since they are becoming more popular, they are more readily available in several grocery stores as well.

Heirloom tomatoes are great to enjoy just as you would any other type of tomato. Be sure to try out some recipes specifically using heirloom tomatoes as well.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.....and Bread

When zucchini is plentiful in the garden, I love to bake with it. Double chocolate zucchini muffins are one of my favorite recipes to make with zucchini.

Every season we plant a good amount of zucchini for our farmers market stand and our CSA shares. If you've grown zucchini before, you know once the plant starts producing the zucchini grows fast. A lot of our customers prefer smaller zucchini for regular cooking, so we try to pick them at a smaller to medium size.

Occasionally some get missed, it's easy to miss some. Then all the sudden they are huge! But these huge ones aren't wasted! They are GREAT for baking!!

Whenever I see some large zucchini in the garden, I am sure to grab them to shred up using a food processor and freeze! I generally put 3 cups worth of shredded zucchini in Ziploc quart freezer bags and its perfect for my zucchini recipes. I especially like baking with the zucchini.

Now on to the recipe: 

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients: 

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon 

3 cups zucchini 

3/4 cup cocoa

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup applesauce

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

For variation add 1 1/2 cup chopped nuts and/or 1/2 cup coconut. 

Directions: 

Mix all the ingredients together well. Bake at 325 degrees. 

Muffins in a muffin pan 10 - 15 minutes. Makes 2 dozen. 

Bread in two loaf pans for 1 to 1 3/4 hours. 

When dough is poured in the pan, I like to add a few chocolate chips to the top of each one. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

This double chocolate zucchini muffin recipe is a great way to use some of that zucchini in the garden. My kids love the chocolate taste and they are delicious and moist. 

I like to make up a batch of muffins to enjoy right away and also make up some loafs to put in the freezer for later. 

This double chocolate zucchini muffin recipe is a great way to use some of that zucchini in the garden. My kids love the chocolate taste and they are delicious and moist. 

So if you have extra zucchini around, be sure to try this recipe out! Bake up some muffins and grab yourself a glass of milk and enjoy! 

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Last year I added rhubarb to my garden. My aunt was thinning out her plants and gave me starts for my garden. My mom has always had rhubarb growing in her garden and she often gave me some to enjoy. Our customers at the farmers market also ask for rhubarb often. So I was excited to add 10 starts to my garden for ourselves to enjoy and also offer to our customers/CSA members.

I haven't made much with rhubarb before. I have enjoyed strawberry rhubarb preserves and strawberry rhubarb turnovers. 

But I wanted to try out a new recipe, so I searched through my mom's recipe box and found this one. 

Rhubarb Custard Pie. Sounds yummy! 

Ingredients: 

1 box pie crust mix

3 eggs

3 tbsp milk

4 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups rhubarb - cut 1/2 -1 inch length 

2 tbsp butter (melted)

additional milk and sugar

Directions: 

-Make up your crust according to box instructions...or you can make your own crust. I made up the whole box, divided in half and used, half the dough for the pie crust and the other half for the lattice top. 

-Combine eggs, milk, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until well blended.

-Stir in fresh rhubarb

- Place the lattice top crust on the pie

-Combine melted butter, some additional milk and sugar and brush mixture on lattice top crust of the pie

-Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown. 

I couldn't wait for the pie to cool and so I could taste it. I loved it!!! It's mildly tangy, not too sweet, not too tart. The custard part is soft and the crust it the perfect amount of crust for the pie. It has an old fashioned feel and a great deliciously different recipe to do with the rhubarb in your garden. I know I will be making it again! Enjoy!!