Summer Send-off

September 8, 2015 ~ JessicaJaeger ~ 1 Comment

What a summer! This was one for the books for our little family. Nothing huge happened, just a whole lotta fun – beach days, pool days, dinners out, play dates, adventures with friends, vacations with cousins, sleepovers with cousins, a couple date nights, and ice cream – a decent amount of ice cream. Anyway, we usually send off the summer Labor Day weekend with more of the above, but not this weekend, I was plagued by the flu! The dead-of-winter, sore joints, headache-inducing, appetite suppressing, high fever causing flu. What a bummer. So we didn’t do much but by Sunday I was ok enough to venture out and do some peach picking and by Monday I was ready for a big ‘ol summer send-off dinner, after the kids ran through the sprinkler once last time of course.

We went for a southern theme of ribs, cole slaw (we used this recipe and added chopped tomatoes), corn….

and homemade peach cobbler for dessert (I used this recipe and added a cinnamon/sugar sprinkle on top before baking).

And it was awesome, just like our summer. I felt extra nostalgic this weekend, maybe I was delirious from the fever, but as much as I love LOVE the fall, I sure am sad to this summer end.

Peach Cobbler

September 9, 2013 ~ JessicaJaeger ~ 2 Comments

You knew this was coming, right? Peach Cobbler!

I think the last time I had a homemade peach cobbler was yearrrrrs ago (maybe middle school?) when my family and I drove (ug, drove!) down to Hilton Head, SC – great trip, but that’s not the point of the story. At the very end of the vacation we met up with my sister’s southern pen pal and her family (remember pen pals? Again, not the point of the story, but I loved having pen pals! They should bring pen-palling back!). Anyway, the pen pal and her family were CRA-ZY! Needless to say, my sister and pen-pal never wrote again after meeting in person – but in the meantime the family gave us a CARload of local southern fruit, veggies, and baked goods – including a freshly baked peach cobbler. It was delicious! I had never had peach cobbler but loved the sweet peaches with the biscuit-like topping…yum. And then I never ate it again until last week…

Of course peach cobbler was on the top of my list to make after we went peach picking. I used Martha’s recipe and it certainly did not disappoint. I followed her recipe to the letter:

Cutting peaches…

Cutting butter into the flour…

And cutting the rolled dough into rounds to plop on top of the sweetened and seasoned peaches.

Look at that crusty-sugared biscuit topping!

After the cobbler is baked, slightly cooled (it’s SO good warm), it’s almost a requirement to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Peach Picking

September 3, 2013 ~ JessicaJaeger ~ 2 Comments

I hope you had a nice Labor Day Weekend! It was kind of crappy weather around where we live, but we tried to make the most of it – went to dinner with family, the playground with cousins, and even to a Labor Day/Birthday party shindig (with homemade cake)! Other than that, one of the biggest highlights was when we went with my parents to pick our own peaches at Sweet Berry Farm where we picked strawberries at the beginning of the summer.

First of all, we didn’t know if there were any tricks to picking peaches, so my husband did a quick google search. Turns out, look for peaches that come off the stem easily and one that is slightly soft to the touch. Aka – leave the hard peaches that you’d have to yank off the stem.

Truth be told, my husband, dad, and even Zoe did most of the picking and it didn’t take long to fill our bag.

My mom and I wasted no time digging in – of course protecting our tops from the peach juice with a special juicy-peach-eating-stance…

Now on to making peach cobbler, peach salsa, and other peachy things!

Grilled Peach Salsa

July 16, 2013 ~ JessicaJaeger ~ 8 Comments

I couldn’t do a post about salsa without mentioning one of the best Seinfeld quotes of all time. Agree?

On to the salsa…I was soooo sick of eating plain old grilled pork chops so I was perusing the web for some sort of topping. We’ve had BBQ, various chutneys, even this delicious apple topping that is great for the Fall. But I wanted something light, fresh, healthy, summery! Then I came across this recipe for a Grilled Peach Salsa and I was sold.

First, cut your peaches in half, take out the pit, brush with a little olive oil, and place cut-side down on a hot grill. Let grill for 8 minutes or until peaches have grill marks and are getting juicy.

While your peaches cool, mince a small onion, a tomato, a garlic clove, 1/2 a jalapeno (or the whole thing if you like a kick), and as much cilantro as you like (we didn’t have cilantro and substituted parsley).

Once your peaches cool to room temp, dice them and put them in the bowl with the rest of your ingredients.

Squeeze the juice of one lime on top and salt to taste.

Serve over pork like we did, or over swordfish maybe…or of course eat with chips. This is so good, so healthy – enjoy!