Nice to Meet You
Hello, folks. Neophyte blogger here. It’ll be nice to get to know you over time. I’m a woman, married (no kids), who works because she has to, not because she wants to; cooks, because she wants to, not because she has to; and travels because she has to whenever she’s able. I hope to share a little of my love of life and its adventures with you.
LJ and I have a little lake house about an hour and fifteen minutes from the city, and we spend weekends there as often as we can and not piss off our friends in the city too much. We were there this weekend and the weather was sunny, blue perfection. (Personal note: we’re Texans. We think 90 degrees is mild summer weather.) We had friends down to join us, and we cruised the lake on a pontoon boat in the late afternoon. Perfect pontoon boat snack: watermelon! I had cooked a pork shoulder in the slow cooker overnight, and it was sitting in a 200 degree oven waiting for us to return and “pull” it to bbq perfection. Pulled pork sandwiches with potato salad and ranch style beans put smiles on all faces. My peach crisps with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert nearly made bulimics out of us. OH, GOD, we were full!
I mentioned LJ, my most special spouse. The remaining members of my immediate family are my cats, Scout and Zooey. Unfortunately, they don’t join us on our trips to the lake. We’ve tried, but Scout just can’t do the car thing. About 20 minutes into this hour and 15 minute journey, he is simultaneously pooping, throwing up, and hyperventilating. (You’re laughing now. Yes, you are. I wasn’t; the stench was too awful!) Of course, all this sickness gets to Zooey eventually, and she joins the puking party. Not fun for any of us. So anyway, I’m always glad to return to the home front and hug the kitties. They always act like they’re glad to see us, but really I think they’re just excited to get Fancy Feast again instead of dry food.
Zooey & Scout
I thought I’d end each blog entry with a recipe. Sometimes they’ll be mine which I either created on my own or adapted from another source, or sometimes they’ll be from someone else and I’ll give credit. So I hope you enjoy these ramblings, and I welcome your comments.
Recipe of the day: Cynthia’s Peach Crisps
Filling:
3 large peaches, peeled and chopped
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
zest of 1 lemon
juice of ½ lemon
pinch of salt
Topping:
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
½ cup flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
Mix filling ingredients well and divide among 4 1-cup ramekins.
Mix dry topping ingredients well. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or work in with fingertips until crumble is the size of peas. Sprinkle over tops of peach filling.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream.