This past weekend
Jul. 21st, 2014 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamflowerIt's been a while since I've made an actual personal post for no special reason. I've been working more days lately, since one of my co-workers recently retired and another quit to stay home and take care of her grandchildren so her daughter can work.
I was scheduled to work this past Sat. until 2PM, but the store was over hours, so they sent me home early, just after noon. So the DH and I decided to drive to Porter, a small town south of Tulsa, for their annual Peach Festival. It was a lot of fun, very busy even though it was late on the last day. We came home with a peck and a half of really NICE peaches, some local honey, a jar of peach butter, and a couple of locally made cheeses. I picked out a farmer's cheese, and the DH opted for a green onion cheese. Oh golly, they are good!
Sunday I was mostly off--I did have to go in to a mandatory safety meeting at work at 7:15AM, at which we watched a video on slips and falls. We were finished by 7:35AM. Came home and did some laundry before heading off to church. After I got home I made lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches using that cheese we'd brought home). Then we turned on the TV and pretended to watch HGTV while we napped.
I made hamburgers and fried potatoes for supper, and I also made a batch of stovetop peaches and dumplings. This is a favorite dish for the DH and I, one that my late mother-in-law taught me how to make. She didn't have a written recipe, and I've never used one, but I decided to write out what I did this time, in order to have the recipe to share.
Stovetop Peaches and Dumplings
6-8 peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (depending on the size of the peaches; I had both large and smaller peaches, so I ended up using 7 this time.)
1/2 to 1 cup of sugar (or the equivalent in your preferred non-sugar sweetener. In the past I have used Splenda, but last night I substituted 1/4 cup of the honey we had bought.)
Water
1 1/2 cup of biscuit mix
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1. Put the peaches in a heavy Dutch oven. Add just enough water to cover them, then add the sugar or other sweetener. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat.
2. While you wait for it to come to a boil, put the biscuit mix and the milk in a small mixing bowl. In another small bowl, mix the sugar and spices. Put half of that into the biscuit mixture (save the other half), and stir well with a fork. Let the dough sit for a couple of minutes.
3. Drop the dough by spoonfuls on top of the boiling peaches. Then sprinkle the remaining spice mixture on top. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and let cook 15 minutes; check to see if all the dumplings are cooked through--if not, cook for about 5 more minutes.
4. Let cool slightly, and serve with vanilla ice cream!
Today I worked again, and I will tomorrow as well. It will be Wednesday before I can get any housework done, and catch up with all the rest of the laundry I didn't get to over the weekend.
I hope everyone else had a nice weekend!
I was scheduled to work this past Sat. until 2PM, but the store was over hours, so they sent me home early, just after noon. So the DH and I decided to drive to Porter, a small town south of Tulsa, for their annual Peach Festival. It was a lot of fun, very busy even though it was late on the last day. We came home with a peck and a half of really NICE peaches, some local honey, a jar of peach butter, and a couple of locally made cheeses. I picked out a farmer's cheese, and the DH opted for a green onion cheese. Oh golly, they are good!
Sunday I was mostly off--I did have to go in to a mandatory safety meeting at work at 7:15AM, at which we watched a video on slips and falls. We were finished by 7:35AM. Came home and did some laundry before heading off to church. After I got home I made lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches using that cheese we'd brought home). Then we turned on the TV and pretended to watch HGTV while we napped.
I made hamburgers and fried potatoes for supper, and I also made a batch of stovetop peaches and dumplings. This is a favorite dish for the DH and I, one that my late mother-in-law taught me how to make. She didn't have a written recipe, and I've never used one, but I decided to write out what I did this time, in order to have the recipe to share.
Stovetop Peaches and Dumplings
6-8 peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (depending on the size of the peaches; I had both large and smaller peaches, so I ended up using 7 this time.)
1/2 to 1 cup of sugar (or the equivalent in your preferred non-sugar sweetener. In the past I have used Splenda, but last night I substituted 1/4 cup of the honey we had bought.)
Water
1 1/2 cup of biscuit mix
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1. Put the peaches in a heavy Dutch oven. Add just enough water to cover them, then add the sugar or other sweetener. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat.
2. While you wait for it to come to a boil, put the biscuit mix and the milk in a small mixing bowl. In another small bowl, mix the sugar and spices. Put half of that into the biscuit mixture (save the other half), and stir well with a fork. Let the dough sit for a couple of minutes.
3. Drop the dough by spoonfuls on top of the boiling peaches. Then sprinkle the remaining spice mixture on top. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and let cook 15 minutes; check to see if all the dumplings are cooked through--if not, cook for about 5 more minutes.
4. Let cool slightly, and serve with vanilla ice cream!
Today I worked again, and I will tomorrow as well. It will be Wednesday before I can get any housework done, and catch up with all the rest of the laundry I didn't get to over the weekend.
I hope everyone else had a nice weekend!
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no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 02:48 am (UTC)PF
(Just in case!)
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 03:10 am (UTC)I hope you enjoy the recipe! I was very pleased at how well it worked with honey instead of sugar or Splenda!
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Date: 2014-07-22 03:12 am (UTC)Peach butter, oh my.
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Date: 2014-07-22 12:28 pm (UTC)I haven't tried the peach butter yet, but the DH has, and he says it's really yummy!
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 12:37 pm (UTC)That peach recipe sounds truly nice, and if this year's harvest at my mother's is anything like the last year's, I'm going to try it out.
(But what is a biscuit mix, and what a Dutch oven?)
It will be some time yet, though; we are very late with everything this year. From my own garden, I only had the second cucumber by now and the first tomato, with everything else just being at the blossoming state so far. At least we did not miss much while being away! :)
Berries have been abundant, though, and I have already deep-frozen about a small bucket of blackberries from my parents, and am going to pick the few blueberries we are going to have this year later.
I've taken to deep-freezing most of the fruit and berries we get this year, since we don't eat as much jam or preserves any more, but I rather make smoothies with or without soy milk, or use them for whole grain muesli. And since my deep-freezer is mostly empty anyway... ;)
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 02:39 pm (UTC)The best known biscuit mix is known as Bisquick, but there are several other brands, such as Pioneer, Jiffy Mix and so forth; there are even brands with a whole wheat version. You can also make your own up ahead of time (which I have done in the past). The brand I have in my cupboard right now is Pioneer, as I find it "fluffier" than Bisquick. It can be used to make all sorts of baked goods besides American-style biscuits. You can make pancakes, quick breads and "impossible pies" with it. I don't honestly know if it's available in other parts of the world, but there are lots of online recipes for mixing up your own.
Here's a picture of one. Apparently other parts of the world call them "casserole dishes", but over here a casserole dish is something else. I have three of them, but the one I use for this recipe is heavy aluminum with an all metal lid. I think it is about a 6-quart size, and it belonged to my m-i-l, and I inherited it from her along with my cast iron skillets. I use my Teflon one for soups and stews, and the lightweight stainless steel one when I need to boil large quantities of water or to make stock.
My garden has not been as good this year as last. I had good luck early in the season with spring onions, radishes and lettuce, but was late getting in my tomatoes, which are only just now beginning to put out little green ones! We never got around to planting the beans, and some creature pulled up all but two of my cucumber plants. Those two have not begun to bear yet either. *sigh*
I'd love us to try growing some berries. Maybe next year!
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-23 01:54 am (UTC)