homemade peanut butter cups

The women on my dad's side of the family make Christmas candy every year. My aunts and cousins set up little candy-making factories in their kitchens and churn out toffee, fudge, peanut butter cups, and more. I'm easing my way into candy making. My grandma let me help out with her Christmas candy a couple of years ago, and my one day apprenticeship made me bold enough to try out some simple candy on my own.

These peanut butter cups are the easiest candy to make. They're a great place to start if you're a beginner or if you just want to put in minimal effort for maximum candy deliciousness. I know Christmas is many months away, but peanut butter cups would be a perfect Valentine's Day (or really, any day) treat. These are much tastier than a box of store bought candy!

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Peanut butter cups

Makes approximately 75 peanut butter cups.

Ingredients
2 lbs. chocolate (I used milk chocolate; Mom uses white. Dark chocolate would be divine.)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar

Equipment
Candy molds
Paint brush
Double-boiler

Peanut butter filling:

Make the peanut butter filling first so that it can chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least a couple of hours. It's much easier and less messy to work with when it's cold.

Cream the butter. When it's soft and smooth, add the peanut butter. Beat until completely combined. Whip in the powdered sugar. Refrigerate overnight.

Assembling:

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Drop a small teaspoon of melted chocolate into each candy mold. Use paintbrush to spread a thin layer of chocolate over the bottom and sides of the mold. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.

Roll peanut butter filling into marble-sized balls. Place one ball in each candy mold, pressing down slightly to flatten. Cover with melted chocolate. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes. When the chocolate has solidified, unmold the candies. They should slide right out. These peanut butter cups keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, but they never last that long at our house.

csa day: leafy greens

Our CSA box this week included:

Kale, lots of lettuce, chard, radishes, sugar snap peas, and turnips

Tuesday's dinner

Weekly Menu

Sunday: Black bean and rice tacos

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday/Wednesday: Barbecue tofu sandwiches, roasted turnips, salad with radishes and sugar snap peas, lemon garlic soy dressing

Thursday/Friday: Spring Garden Soup and rice. This is a miso soup with lots of greens. It's from How It All Vegan. (No, I'm not going vegan. I've had this book since high school when I saw the authors do a cooking demonstration. I was getting rid of things the other day and found some good recipes in this book, so it gets to stay around a while longer.)

Saturday: Dinner with K's family

Sunday: Chard gratin, homemade bread, fried eggs

Monday: Leftovers

We are shifting our meal planning to coordinate with our CSA delivery, so our weekly menu will start on Tuesdays instead of Sundays. We get our vegetables on Monday nights and have decided to use the produce as a jumping off point for meals. We'll then make a list of groceries needed to round out the meals. This is the first year we've shifted our planning/shopping. I think it's a necessary step to using all of the vegetables we get. 

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The sugar snap peas tasted so sweet that I kept eating them like candy as I made dinner tonight. I wanted to balance that sweetness in the salad with a little tartness, so I threw together a lemon garlic soy dressing. It was snappy enough to balance the peas. 

Lemon Garlic Soy Dressing

(*Please note, these measurements are approximate. I eyeballed with these amounts in mind. Also, this recipe makes just enough dressing for two people. Multiply if you want more.)

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP lemon juice (or a bit less. K would prefer less tang. I liked it.)

1 clove of garlic

Blend all ingredients together. I use a Magic Bullet and have dressing in seconds. If you'd prefer an unplugged method, mince the garlic and whisk everything together. 

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Just so I don't give you the wrong idea, we don't eat vegetables all the time. We also make room for sweets. These are sugar cookies I baked to celebrate my sister's college graduation. Festive, huh? She liked the cookies, but our real graduation present to her was helping to move all of her stuff home from school on a hot and humid afternoon. We love you a lot, Jules. 

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What's going on in your kitchen this week?

Spring Snow Cake

Last spring I came across the most beautiful cake. It was my dream cake. Simple and unfussy. Adorned with flowers. Plain and sweet. I knew that I had to make one for myself. 

So I did. 

I had to wait a year until the violets were in bloom again, but it was worth it. 

On Sunday morning we woke up to a sprinkling of spring snow, so when I baked this cake later that afternoon I couldn't help thinking that it looked like ice-crusted violets peeking their heads up out of the snow. Hence the name, Spring Snow Cake.

The cake is a lemon yogurt cake. I thought I was trying out a new recipe, but it turns out the yogurt cake in Baking From My Home to Yours is the same as this one, which I've made lots of times. Oh well. It's still good.

I dressed up the cake with a lemon buttercream frosting. Last week one of my co-workers brought in strawberry cupcakes topped with this lemon frosting and she passed along the recipe to me. It's this one, though I halved it for this single layer cake.

I decorated my cake with sugared violets because I have also been waiting a year to make this old-fashioned treat after reading about it here.

I broke out my Liberty tea pot and Woodfield teacups for a celebratory tea party. This time it was a tea party for two. While I like contemplative tea parties of one, I love the coziness of tea for two. 

Sugared Violets

handful of violets

1 egg white

small bowl of sugar

paintbrush

wax paper

Pluck the violets from their stems and gently wash the flowers. Let dry on a clean towel.

Whisk egg white until frothy. 

Paint violets front and back with the egg white. After painting, place each flower in the sugar bowl and toss lightly to coat. Let dry on wax paper overnight.

Use your crunchy flower candy for decorating desserts of all kinds.

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I feel like each year I become more enamored with spring (but don't worry, Fall, you're still my favorite). I love spotting (and picking) new flowers in bloom and seeing fluffy-breasted birds return to the still-bare tree branches. 

What signs of spring are you enjoying? 

weekend snippets: pizza bread

My father-in-law David's specialty at family get-togethers is pizza bread. I was hanging around the kitchen this weekend when he was making it, so I snapped some pictures.

Here's his pizza bread recipe in photos:

Layer ingredients

Cut dough and criss cross

Bake

Devour

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We had a really delicious trip to Maysville over the weekend. To celebrate the winter birthdays, my mother-in-law Phyllis made a fantastic turtle cake. Knowing that I had a leftover piece of that cake in the fridge got me through a tiring Monday. Find the recipe here. Phyllis highly recommends the website it comes from, Just a Pinch.

Simple Sweet Potato Soup

Last week I overheard Harley, one of my coworkers, telling some people about his lunch--sweet potato soup. He started giving the recipe and my ears perked up. I butted in, asking him to tell me, too. He was nice enough to start the recipe from the beginning again. Thanks, Harley.

The recipe is a good one. It's simple, easy to remember, and a cinch to adjust to the quantities you have on hand. That's because Harley didn't give any specific quantities for his recipe. It's a throw everything in the pot and let the magic happen kind of soup. I think you're really going to like it.

Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

onion, diced
garlic, minced
ginger, finely chopped
vegetable broth
sweet potatoes, baked or boiled. Cut half into large chunks. 
Mash the other half.
coconut milk
curry powder
a little vegetable oil

Heat the vegetable oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, cook until translucent. Then throw in the garlic and ginger for a minute or two. Pour in the vegetable broth. Add the mashed sweet potatoes and stir until smooth. Put in the rest of the sweet potatoes, coconut milk, and curry powder to taste. Heat until it's warm enough to make you happy. Tastes great on a cold day with homemade bread. Tastes even better if you can get someone else to make it for you (thanks, K!).

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Hope you all have been having a good week! Mine has been busy with school and dreaming up crochet projects. I've got a finished project to share with you soon (hopefully with my very first pattern).

*We ate this soup up before I thought to take a photo of it. Oops.

Apple Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Would you believe I had never eaten apple cake until last year?

Apple pie? I've made plenty of them. Apple dumplings? They're like my favorite dessert ever until somebody shows up with a chocolate cake. Apple crisp? I've only eaten one every year since I was born. But my apple dessert card had a spot left unpunched--apple cake--until I found a delicious recipe over on maya*made.

Now that autumn has rolled around again, I've been craving that sweet cake thickly layered with apple slices and pecans and dosed with a hefty sprinkling of cinnamon. The original recipe makes a simple, tasty cake, but if you want to make it a tad more special, you should try topping it with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. It makes an everyday cake feel decadent. And I don't know about you, but I could use a little decadence on these cold November nights. So go ahead...light a candle, grab a cup of tea, and sit down to a piece of this autumn cake.

One Bowl Apple Cake

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 TBSP butter, softened

1 ounce cream cheese

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whip all the ingredients together until smooth and fluffy. Spread over the cake while it's still warm. The frosting will melt a bit, creating a glaze.

The frosting makes this cake a two-bowl project, but it's completely worth washing that extra dish.

Updated: You probably figured this out just by looking at the amounts this recipe calls for, but this make just a little bit of icing. It's definitely enough to melt over an apple cake. However, if you are a "mounds of frosting" kind of person, you'll want to at least double this recipe.

csa day: a pot of sun gold

Finger Pickin' Farms' CSA contents this week:

Top row: Sun gold cherry tomatoes, wax beans, onions, carrots

Bottom row: Beets, red peppers, potatoes

(Not pictured: Candy-colored zinnias. They're beautiful, but my camera blurred all of the pictures. I repeat, it was the camera's fault.)

These tomatoes are seriously oozing sunlight. 

Bread from the oven in my hot hot hot kitchen. Worth the heat.

Yes, I'm still baking. I just can't help myself. I've been making bread all week long from this easy recipe. I made the dough at the beginning of the week, stuck it in the fridge, and whenever I need bread I cut off a hunk of dough and bake it.  Plus, the bread tastes amazing! Chewy, light, and really flavorful. We've used it for sandwiches, dipping in soup, and alongside pasta. It's definitely a recipe worth keeping around.

* * * * * 

Weekly Menu:

Homemade pasta with tomatoes, squash, walnuts and garlic. Garlic bread.

Grilled teriyaki vegetable sandwiches  

Quinoa pilaf with zucchini, mint, cucumbers, and feta (didn't get around to making it last week)

Summer vegetable soup with white beans and black olives

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So, I know it's hot. Yes, this summer has seen some record temperature days. But I'm still going to try to talk you into trying this soup recipe (unless you're reading this in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case this recipe might sound pretty enticing just about now). 

This soup is perfect to make in the summer, while you're getting lots of great produce from your local farmers. Heck, I got to use five different vegetables from my CSA box (including some leftover from last week). 

I think you'll like it. The flavors run the gamut--the carrots lend sweetness, the tomatoes and lemon give it some tartness, and the olives add a delicious brininess--but all come together to create a really balanced taste. If you just can't bring yourself to make this now, tuck the recipe away until colder weather. It's one worth trying.

Feel free to substitute with the vegetables you have on hand. Fresh herbs would also be wonderful in this. I wish I'd had some basil to throw into the pot. Next time...

Summer Vegetable Soup with White Beans and Black Olives

(adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook's White Bean and Black Olive Soup)

1 large onion, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

2 small sweet peppers, diced

1 small squash or zucchini, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups cooked white Northern beans

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1 TBSP lemon juice

Chopped tomatoes for topping.

Heat a good dollop of oil in a soup pot. Add the onions, carrots, and salt and cook over medium heat until tender (about 8-10 minutes). Add the peppers, squash/zucchini and garlic and cook about 5 minutes more, until peppers are softened. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the toppings, and cook for about 15 minutes. Top with tomatoes (you could also add herbs, sour cream, or whatever makes you happy).  Tastes great served with crusty bread slathered with herbed cream cheese. 

Happy eating!

Honey Pie: A song for a happy Monday

I'm absolutely loving The Beatles song Honey Pie these days. As in, I'm afraid I might wear out that song on the record. I just want to listen to it again and again. It's so catchy, and fun to sing and dance along with. Go have a listen--I bet it will make you smile.

Also, it makes me really hungry. I can't help but dream up recipes for a Honey Pie.

Here is my dreamed up recipe, which I have not attempted at all because I've been too busy dancing in the living room.

Honey Pie

Fill a baked pie crust with vanilla honey custard, top with meringue, sprinkle with toasted walnuts and crushed bits of honey toffee,  and drizzle with honey. Eat in a pool of sunlight. Dance between bites.

What recipe would you dream up for a honey pie?

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Hope you are having a marvelous Monday!

Spinach Asparagus Pasta Alfredo

I've been stalking farmers' markets. There are nearby ones on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That's a lot of local food to browse, buy, and try, but I'm totally game for it. If you've got any great recipes for vegetables, send them my way.

Last week I'd planned to make pasta alfredo and the bag of frozen broccoli in the freezer just wasn't going to cut it, so I picked up some asparagus and spinach at the Thursday farmers' market. I did a quick saute of the vegetables with a tiny bit of oil and salt, then served them over pasta with a homemade alfredo sauce. The only thing that would have made this meal better is if I had homemade pasta. Courtney made some recently that makes me want to buy a pasta roller pronto.

Here's the alfredo recipe if you want to try it out. I'm ok with buying jarred pasta sauce when I need to fix dinner in a hurry, but this sauce only has a few ingredients and tastes so good. The small amount of effort results in a creamy, flavorful sauce.

Alfredo Sauce
(from somewhere on the internet, but I can't remember where)

½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste

Simmer the cream and butter in a saucepan over low heat until it has slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. (Tip: Don't cook too long or your sauce will fall apart, making an oily mess.) Add the cheese, remove from heat, and stir until mostly incorporated and melted. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.

I added some dried Italian herbs and garlic powder, but this sauce would also be great with fresh herbs like oregano and thyme and some minced garlic.

This recipe makes 2-4 servings. I like to double it so we'll have some for leftovers. I also don't use too much sauce per serving. It's a very rich sauce, and I don't want my pasta to be swimming in it.

I'm Walkin' on Sunshine Lemon Yogurt Cake

Lemon Yogurt Cake seemed to be just the thing to bake last week. Gray days and flurries make it seem like spring isn't just around the corner. And we all know it is almost spring. It is! We are mere weeks away, and if nature isn't going to help me out, I figured I'd make my own sunshine. 

Sunny yolks and fluffy clouds of sugar and yogurt

I usually jot down notes in my cookbooks and on printed recipes to keep track of how things went and any changes I'd like to make next time I use the recipe. The note on the lemon yogurt cake shows that I made it almost exactly a year ago, at the tail-end of February, which I think means I was having similar end of winter feelings then. 

Lemon-scented batter

This recipe is from Orangette, whose blog I just love, and whom I hope will return to the world of blogging soon. This is the recipe that led her future husband to her blog, so maybe you've read about it before. Maybe you've even made it before. I'd urge you to take another look at it and bake it now, when a simple lemon cake can transport you from the dregs of winter to a place of citrus and warmth.

Pale yellow glaze

I have tweaked the recipe just a bit, zesting only one lemon and using the juice of half a lemon for the glaze (the original recipe calls for the juice of two lemons, which always left me with soggy cake).

Sunshine on a plate

I'm Walkin' on Sunshine Lemon Yogurt Cake

Adapted from Orangette's Gâteau au Citron, or, French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon


Cake ingredients:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Glaze ingredients:
Juice from half a lemon
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stir the eggs, sugar, and yogurt in a large bowl until well-blended. Mix in flour, baking powder, and lemon zest and stir until just combined. (Tip: if you zest your lemon directly into the batter, all of those lovely drops of lemon oil will make it into your cake, too.) Add in the oil and mix briskly until it's well-blended into the rest of the batter. 

Pour batter into a well-oiled 8-inch round cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until cake springs back when touched. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

For the glaze:

Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar in a bowl. (Tip: if the powdered sugar doesn't dissolve all the way, microwave for a few seconds at a time until it is completely dissolved into the juice.) Spoon the glaze over the cake; it will soak into the cake, giving a burst of tart citrus flavor to complement the slightly sweet cake.

Eat up and enjoy the sunshine you've made. 

*It's almost spring. Hooray!*

Apple Delight

Caramel apple from the farm

Last weekend when we visited the pumpkin farm, we also picked up a peck of apples. I'm so happy to have an abundance of apples to play around with. My big plan for this weekend (besides studying until my eyes dry out) is to make an apple pie. Here are some versions I'm considering: Old-fashioned apple pie, lattice-topped apple pie, and apple pie with pecan crumb topping. Shoot, they all sound good. There's a bakery down the street that makes a wonderful Dutch Apple pie with caramel, which is apple pie slathered in their signature caramel frosting. It's the most decadent apple pie I've ever eaten. If I could make a version of that I would seriously impress myself.

I did do some simple baking with apples earlier this week using a family recipe that's been around for as long as I can remember. It's my Grandma Alice's Apple Delight, and it was included in the recipe book that my aunts, cousins, and grandma compiled as a wedding present for me. Apple Delight is baked apples with a crispy cinnamon-sugar topping that we used to eat during our Sunday dinners at Grandma's house and especially on Thanksgiving. As a child, I would try to skim off the candy-like topping, getting as little of the apples as I could. It was the same principle I used when scooping the marshmallows off of the sweet potato dish. Luckily, I now appreciate the flavor of baked apples, but I still can't get enough of the sweet, crunchy topping!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I took some, but this humble dish is not the most photogenic. It is, however, delicious and quick enough to whip up on a weeknight when you're craving apple pie. I should note that while Apple Delight is sweet enough to count as dessert, my family has always classified it as a side dish, so that we can also eat some pumpkin pie!

* * *

Apple Delight

3 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

Pile apples in a baking dish. In a separate bowl, soften butter. Add sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix with your hands. Take a handful of mixture and pat it between your hands. Lay over apples. Continue with the rest of the mixture until apples are completely covered. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

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Ask and you shall receive: Last week I posted a link to an apple peeler that I was eyeing because I knew it would make apple dishes a snap. A little while after that I got an email from my mother-in-law, saying that she had one of those peelers, and I'd be welcome to use it. Well, it's been amazing and I would like to say thank you! It peels, cores, and slices the apple (like magic!), and I've been carrying it around as my new party trick.

Sorrel Soup and Squash Love

I mentioned before that we've got loads of sorrel growing in our garden, thanks to my friend Kristie. She's a long-time friend, one of those people that you feel close to even if you only see them a handful of times over the years. When I saw her last December, our conversation turned to the dream we each had to have our own garden. It's a dream rooted in being settled, self-sufficient, and connected to the land.

I didn't know during that December conversation how soon I would be digging a garden of my own. K and I were lucky enough to be able to stay in the same place for another year and our landlords actually told us we could have a garden before we even asked. So K tilled and I planted vegetables and herbs.

Kristie came to our wedding toting a basket full of sorrel and johnny jump-ups for us to plant in our garden. She spent her spring working on a farm in Michigan and had fallen in love with sorrel. It was such a thoughtful present, and we're still making good use of it.

We used our wedding sorrel to make this soup from the Sundays at Moosewood Cookbook. It's such a simple soup that after making it twice, I typed the recipe out from memory. Don't worry, though, I checked the cookbook to make sure I had everything right.

* * *

(Wedding) Sorrel Soup

from Sundays at Moosewood cookbook

1 onion, finely diced

3 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon flour

2 cups sorrel, washed, stemmed, and finely chopped

3 cups vegetable broth

2 egg yolks

1 cup milk

Saute onion and butter in a soup pot until the onion is translucent. Add the flour and stir. Add the sorrel and cook until just wilted (1-2 minutes). Add the broth, heat to boiling, turn down heat and simmer for a few minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and milk together. While whisking, add 2 cups of the hot soup to the egg/milk mixture. Pour this soup-egg mixture back into the soup pot and heat gently. Don't let it boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add a few dashes of hot sauce to individual bowls if you like it spicy.

Find more Moosewood recipes here.

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I also roasted a butternut squash from last week's CSA box for dinner last night.

Isn't it sweet? After I scooped out the seeds, the insides formed these hearts.

Tofu, Bok Choy, and Onions with Garlic Mirin Sauce

K and I went to an orientation a couple of weeks after moving to Yamagata, Japan. The best part of that orientation was the cooking seminar because we still use the recipes we learned there on a regular basis.

Our favorite recipe that we brought back from Japan is tofu with garlic mirin sauce. This sauce is savory, salty, and just a little bit sweet. The first time we made it, I couldn't believe that something this good came out of our kitchen. It's so good that I've even been known to lick my plate (not in front of company, of course!).

This is an easy recipe for tofu and whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand. If we're just cooking tofu in the sauce, we make the original recipe. If we're adding vegetables, we double the sauce recipe. Tip: Don't leave out the garlic. K has been known to do this because he hates chopping garlic. The garlic balances out the flavors, and if you leave it out the sauce tastes too sweet.

Here's how we make it:

Cook the tofu with some oil in a skillet, and then remove the tofu. Add the sauce and vegetables to the skillet and cook until the sauce has thickened. Mix the tofu into the vegetables and sauce. Serve over rice.

Original recipe for Garlic Mirin Sauce:

1/8 cup mirin
1/8 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 clove garlic, minced (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon oil

Stir all ingredients in a small bowl, adding oil last. Pour mixture into pan and cook over high heat until thick.

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There's still time to enter my Button Necklace giveaway!

Vanilla Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce

Sometimes you just can't beat the classics. Vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce is always a winner in my book. It's creamy, smooth, and decadent without feeling too over the top.

I made this French-style vanilla ice cream from The Perfect Scoop with a vanilla bean, homemade vanilla extract, cream, sugar, and eggs from Misty Meadows Farm. It was my first time to make a custard-based ice cream, as thus far I've only attempted the quick and easy Philadelphia-style (no egg) ice creams. This custard-based recipe did require more work, but once I got into it, it wasn't too difficult. Plus, using farm fresh eggs is such a treat and makes the ice cream seem a little healthier. Right? Hmm...ok, ice cream isn't quite a health food, but the eggs do make the taste and texture richer and more substantial.

K and I loved this vanilla ice cream just as it was, but I jumped at the chance to make some hot fudge sauce. Ever since eating that Boston Shake, hot fudge has been on my mind. Hot fudge makes everything better!

This hot fudge sauce is simple, rich, and delicious. It's an easy topping to whip up and keeps well in the fridge. Also, if you run out of ice cream this sauce is pretty good just eaten by the spoonful. (I won't tell if you won't.)

Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe*

(I googled and found it here)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients except the vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling. Continue boiling for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Once it has cooled a bit, serve over ice cream.**

* * * * *

*I wanted to make my grandma's hot fudge recipe, but I didn't have any condensed milk on hand. Next time I'm definitely trying out Grandma's recipe. I love keeping family recipes going.

**I think it would also be fabulous over cake. Oh, now I totally want to make a hot fudge cake.

Peach Sorbet

If you only make one frozen concoction this summer, make it this. This cool, sweet peach sorbet will cure your ills and leave you refreshed and relaxed. And maybe sticky, but you won't mind because the flavor is so mind-blowingly peachtastic.

You don't even need an ice cream maker for this. Just buy some peaches and this sorbet will practically make itself. (Ok, it won't, but you can make it happen with minimal work on your part).

Here's what you do--

You'll need: an 8 x 8 baking pan (feel free to substitute a pan of comparable size)

a blender

Ingredients: 5 peaches, peeled, pitted and roughly diced

juice of one lemon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 Tablespoon fruity liqueur (optional, it helps the sorbet to freeze smoothly)

Blend all of the ingredients until smooth. Pour this peachy sweet nectar of the gods into your baking pan. Freeze uncovered. After an hour, remove it from the freezer and whisk the liquid around. This adds air to the mixture, so that you'll get a light sorbet instead of a giant peach popsicle. Repeat the whisking 2 or 3 more times, freezing an hour between each time. Allow it to freeze at least an hour or two more with no whisking.

Remove the pan from the freezer about 15 minutes before you want to eat it and let it soften a bit. Scoop and eat! Delightful, no?

Keeping My Cool

The Kentucky summer keeps trying to beat me. It brings the 90 degree weather and the super-humidity and thinks it will knock me down. The summer seems to know how to withhold its breezes, how to storm early in the morning and stop, so that by midday the ground is steaming. However, I've got some tricks up my sleeve (though I'm definitely not wearing any sleeves), and I'm determined to stay cool no matter what summer throws at me.

K and I are on year three of no air conditioning. The first two years we lived in Japan and now we're dealing with this summer in Kentucky business. We lived in Yamagata, Japan, where the weather is surprisingly similar to the Ohio River Valley. It's hot and muggy, though I think Kentucky is ever-so-slightly more humid. It was in Yamagata that we first started taking ice cold showers and freezing wet washcloths to use as ice packs. We each had our own fan and didn't often move from in front of them.

I've learned some new strategies this summer for keeping cool. My favorite drink for staying hydrated is ice water, but it becomes a special treat when you add some herbs. I just put a few leaves of fresh mint or lemon balm in the bottom of a glass, add a few ice cubes, and give it a good shake. I love how the glass gets all frosty and the scent of herbs wafts through the air. I fill the glass with water and drink for instant refreshment. Throughout the day, I just add more ice and water. The mint or lemon taste stays pretty strong.

Another way I've been surviving the heat is by eating cool, cool foods. Cold, glistening plums, for example. Not only are they sweet and chilled, they're also pretty. I love the dusty dark purple skin and the golden orange flesh. It's a great mid-afternoon treat.

I've also been making ice cream and sorbets as fast as I can. This sunshine yellow pineapple sorbet definitely cooled me down. It's another simple sorbet recipe. It's actually just pineapple, sugar, and water. What a perfect summer recipe!

The recipe comes from The Perfect Scoop. Here's my brief synopsis: Blend together 1 pineapple (peeled and cut into small pieces), 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water.* Chill this mixture in the fridge for about an hour, then put it in your ice cream maker. Done!

* * * * *

*This is actually the doubled version of the recipe.