Brigham City Peach Pie

Peach pie.  I mean, it sounds good and it looks good . . . but I don't think I ever would have made it if it hadn't been a birthday request.  So I'm glad it was, because it turned out to be a great recipe (I got it from allrecipes, one of my favorite cooking sites).

I made this pie for Troy--he's a great friend and his wife, Brenda, is an even greater friend (sorry, Troy).  He's a pretty generous guy and has made the birthdays in our family special.  So, I told him I'd make him an apple pie on his birthday and he quickly countered, "How 'bout peach?"  

Peach it shall be.  (I used my flakiest pie crust recipe).

Our family before the hour-long wait on a busy Thursday

It seemed fitting that he requested a peach pie only a few days after my family and I visited Brigham City, Utah---peach capital of the state.  We went there to tour the inside of the newly competed Latter-day Saint temple.  Before a temple is dedicated, it is open to the general public, and I highly recommend taking a tour if you ever have the opportunity!  There's no better way to find out what "Mormons" believe and why temples are central to our focus on strengthening families, both now and in the afterlife.  Here's a sweet video clip about part of our temple experience:

But back to the pie.  I think it's the only food on this site that I have not actually tasted myself {update: I had it on Pi Day 2013 and it is delectable}.  Both Troy and Brenda assured me that it was delicious--even better than the pastry that Troy ordered for himself on the Internet for his birthday.  I could have told you that, Troy . . .

Any recipe that calls for you to cut butter into a crumbly stage
is bound to be delicious 

Layer the peaches in the bottom of your pie crust, then generously
layer butter crumblies.  Repeat with remaining peaches and crumblies.

Troy got his bull elk with a BOW the day before his birthday,
so I thought I'd pay homage to his prowess with an antler design . . .

T for "Totally"
I used an egg yolk wash: water and egg yolk
beaten and lightly brushed over the crust

Scrumptious.

Troy took this picture and FBed it to me.

It wouldn't have been a true birthday gift without a poem from yours truly.  I would have printed it out for Troy, but my printer was/is out of ink.  Still, I can share the digital version with my Internet audience.  I think Troy would want it that way.

Aren't limericks the best?  Poo on sonnets and haikus . . . you can't convey this kind of emotion in those rigid forms . . .

Celebration-worthy, people.

I added pecans to my streusel the second go-round and it was
over-the-top good.

National "Pi" day: 3.14 every year.  Circles never looked this tasty . . .

Finally, the actual recipe card:

Oat & Cranberry Muffins

I think maybe the reason I like muffins so much is because they are like cake, but without cake guilt.  My friend, Cori, has been teasing me about my muffin addiction. She claims that she went through a "muffin phase" when she had small children, and thinks that it is something that will pass for me.

I don't think so.

I do so adore muffins. Doesn't the word "muffin" itself make you think of happy times? (With the notable exception of "muffin-top", which is slightly more apt than "spare tire" or "love handles"). Muffins are pretty much the perfect food, and baking muffins is not only relaxing for me, it also makes my house smell like heaven. Plus, I can always hide a couple and save them for midnight forays.  Or freeze a whole bunch and have one or two every morning for a week with my oatmeal.

I realize I am waxing whimsical . . . but that's what delicious home-baked foodstuffs do to me.

{As part of her muffin-heckling, Cori sent me a link to a funny little muffin website called muffinfilms. Truman loves number 8: "Feed Me" the best, while I prefer the slightly macabre number 6: The Muffin Tree.}

If you know me, you know that gifts are my love language.  So when my Aunt Kristie sent me this book out of the blue (about four years ago) it was the most delightful surprise!  I think of her every time I use it and it is one of my all-time favorite gifts.

One of my favorite recipes from the book is my cream and spice muffins--especially on a cold day, they are delicious with hot cocoa.

But I just discovered this healthy gem: oat and cranberry muffins.  The first time I made them, I didn't have any dried cranberries, so I used one cup of my precious frozen huckleberries.  And I used five-grain cereal instead of plain rolled oats.  DELISH.  Even though they are healthy!

Cori may make fun, but she still gave me
my favorite SQUARE muffin pan

The five-grain makes the muffins nice and chewy, but they are still moist and flavorful thanks to the kefir and huckleberries.

I finally bought some dried cranberries, and the muffins turned out beautifully.  They taste great, too.  (TIP: If you have ever wondered how to get a muffin out of its wrapper without leaving half the muffin stuck, just let them cool--then the wrappers peel all the way off).

Before going into the oven

Out of the oven and ready to eat

My favorite way to have any muffin:
buttered and dipped in honey-sweetened Cream O' Wheat

Bacon & Green Bean Heart-Attack Roll-ups

Any recipe from my fabulous sister-in-law, Heather, is always a favorite.  Check out her other contributions.

Bonnie knows how to lay a spread

Once a year is the only time you should ever have these . . . but it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them. I am always thankful for bacon.

This is how it looks before you refrigerate it--
not very appetizing, I'm afraid.

This is me placing the roll-ups on a platter on
Thanksgiving Day 2011 at my beautiful sister
Bonnie's house (my favorite Thanksgiving
destination), two months after my baby Calvin
was born.  Be VERY careful when removing
your dish from the oven--see all that grease
and butter in the bottom of the pan?

Calvin, two months old

My sister Ali made my mom's delicious rolls, which recipe I will
be highlighting in November . . . 

Holy decadence, Batman!  There are never leftovers.

Becca's Red Potato Salad With Bacon

Potato salad + bacon = no duh.

I followed my husband's recipe protocol when coming up with this one: read all you can about one food, then cobble together your favorite ideas. I knew I wanted to use sliced (instead of chopped) red potatoes, and knew I wanted big chunks of bacon . . . the rest followed.

Sometimes I use horseradish mustard instead of Dijon--it is delectable.  The best thing about potato salad is that you can add lots of different seasonings in different amounts and it'll still be yummy.  Sometimes I sprinkle it with paprika, sometimes I add 12 hard-boiled eggs instead of six, and I usually use less mayo and sour cream than I wrote on the recipe card.  You can really experiment and not go wrong.

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

If you add the word "streusel" to any recipe, then I am a fan.  This particular streusel has oats in it, and it is deeeee-licious!

The very best possible way to make these muffins is with raspberries from your own garden that you picked that very morning . . . but let's be realistic, people.  We don't all have raspberries.  For those of us who do, they are only ripe in July/August.  For those of us who 1) do have raspberries that are 2) ripe in said months, then 3) our kids have probably already eaten them off the vine despite our repeated warnings and threats to leave some "for jam."  For those of us who 1) do have raspberries and 2) it is July or August and 3) our kids haven't eaten them off the vine . . . well, "we" might have gone outside in the morning with intentions of picking a few cups for muffins, only to make the mistake of popping one into "our" mouths and then ravenously eating 3 or 4 cups of ripe raspberries by ourselves and then 4) decide to let our kids have cold cereal for breakfast instead of homemade, hand-picked raspberry muffins from the heart.

I need to have my husband make a flow chart of these options.

And my point is really this: frozen raspberries are delicious, and all I have ever used in this recipe.  {But I have big plans for this raspberry season . . . } Enjoy the pictures.  I promise you will love.

STREUSEL!!!!!!

Gingham makes breakfast pretty . . .

Don't be jealous of my square muffin tin . . .

Wholesome American Goodness, people.

These muffins are easily in my top five favorite muffin recipes, along with Cinnamon Ripple and Huckleberry Cream.  Be sure to read all about kefir and conquer any recipe that calls for yogurt or sour cream or buttermilk.

Truman's No-Bake Cookies

No-bake cookies are the perfect "first cookie" for your kids to learn to make.  My son, Truman, actually learned to make these in his second grade class, with teacher par excellence, Mrs. Williams.  He came home with the recipe and couldn't wait to try it out.

Two years later, it's still his favorite thing to make.

What a handsome ten-year-old!

Cinnamon Ripple Muffins

These are my all-time favorite muffins and my all-time most-requested muffin recipe.  When my siblings come to visit, this is what they hope I am making for breakfast.

I love muffins because they are delicious, can be served as part or all of breakfast, make your house smell amazing, and are already in perfect portion sizes. They freeze beautifully, too, so I like to make big batches, freeze a dozen, and then have one or two thawed muffins in the morning with my oatmeal. Mmmmm.

The top crackles so beautifully

Bonus: this muffin also comes perfectly out of it's wrapper without
leaving parts of itself stuck behind.  The inside is cinna-yummy!

These particular muffins are extra good to dip in your Cream O' Wheat.  If you don't like CO'W, then you may suffer from the same affliction my husband does: complete lack of appreciation for wholesome goodness in the morning.  But, his affliction notwithstanding, these are his favorite muffins, too.

Buttermilk Waffles

This has been my number one waffle recipe for about six years now.  It makes quite a bit of batter (enough for about 30 square waffles, I'd say), so I like to cook the last few batches until they're barely golden brown, then freeze them and use 'em later for a rushed morning when my kids can pop them in the toaster.  They are ten times more delicious and twenty times more healthy than Eggos.

Also, since I discovered kefir, I never use buttermilk or have to mix milk with vinegar (Click here for my What is Kefir? post).  They make the waffles so moist and yummy!

Pumpkin Bread

This is one of my favorite breads to make as a "gift."  I like to take mini loaves of this pumpkin bread when I go visiting teaching, to bake sales, or to add to a Christmas goody platter.  Plus, it makes your house smell like heaven when it's in the oven.

Bex Tip: I buy lots of small baskets at Deseret Industries (best local thrift store ever), clean them, then use them to take baked goods to people, lining each with a square of gingham fabric.  I tell them the basket is part of the gift: it's pretty, inexpensive, and no one has to worry about returning a plate or dish.