Peach Cobbler...

Filling:
12 Fresh, Ripe Peaches - Peeled, Pitted & Sliced
1/3 C White Sugar
1/3 C Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Vanilla

Topping:
1 1/2 C Flour
1/3 C White Sugar
1/3 C Packed Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 C Butter
1/3 C Boiling Water


Preheat oven to 425.  In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients.  Toss to coat evenly and pour into a greased 9x13 glass dish.  Bake for 15 minutes.  While filling is cooking, in a large bowl, combine all the topping ingredients EXCEPT the boiling water.  With a pastry blender, cut in the butter to the dry ingredients until mixture resembles crumbs.  Stir in water and mix just until combined.  Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over the warm filling.  Sprinkle the entire mixture with cinnamon/sugar if desired.  Bake 15-20 minutes until topping is golden brown, loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent too much browning and bake an ADDITIONAL 15 minutes.

(Peaches... Oh how I LOVE you!  Pies, cobblers, crisps, & cream... Shakes, smoothies, jam, jelly... juice, dry, vine ripened, poached... Ahhh. Utah peaches in Autumn!  Our ward does an annual "Share the Harvest" dinner.  I usually make a peach cobbler or two.  This year I found a recipe on the Internet and as usual added, subtracted and adjusted to make it more delicious to MY taste.  The above is what I ended up with.  The results were delicious...)

Strawberry Cream Cheese...

2  8 oz pkgs of Cream Cheese (softened)
1  C Strawberry Jam
1  tsp Vanilla

With an electric mixer, mix all ingredients together well.  Store in the refrigerator.

(I just made this up and it's AWESOME!)

April Fools... Eggs Sunny Side Up

2 Slices of Pound Cake
1/4 C. Vanilla Yogurt
1 Apricot Half

Toast the pound cake to a golden brown. Arrange pieces on a plate so they look like ONE piece of toast. Spread yogurt over cake to cover "seams" and make it look like the "white" of an egg. Place the apricot, rounded side up, in the middle of the yogurt. April Fools!

My kids got a kick out of this. (Although they ALL passed on actually eating the apricots, they did enjoy the yogurt and cake for breakfast.)

Grape Juice...

Fill a 1 Quart Canning Jar 1/2 of the way full of washed concord grapes picked off your vine. Stems, seeds, maybe a leaf or two included! Add 1/2 C. Sugar. Fill jar with boiling water and process in a hot water bath for 30 minutes. When you serve, pour chilled contents through a strainer and enjoy.

(I have not done this yet, but my friend Megan shared this FUN, EASY, UNUSUAL recipe with me and the best part...It's delicious! I was able to taste the finished product. I can't wait to try it this summer with my own grapes. I think I'll also try making some sugar free for P.J. (using Agave Nectar.) Last summer, I was at a loss as to what to do with them, because I didn't have the proper juicing equipment....  UPDATE 2012:  Love this! I have a lot more of my sweet, seedless, green grapes than the concord.  For the sweet green grapes, I decrease the sugar to 1/3 C.  I bottled over 36 quarts of juice this year.  When we serve it, I usually mix equal parts juice to Fresca Soda.  mmmmm...)

Jell-O Cream...

1 Large Box Orange Jell-O
1 Large Box (NOT INSTANT) Vanilla Pudding
2 1/2 C. Water
1 Pint of (UN WHIPPED) Whipping Cream
1 Can Mandarin Oranges

In a medium saucepan combine the jell-o and pudding powders. Mix together and add water, stir until well dissolved. Turn on the stove and heat to boiling. Boil 1 minute; stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Let cool and refrigerate. Chill at least 4 hours, better if overnight! In a mixing bowl transfer the hard chilled Jell-O mixture and add whipping cream. Beat on low until well mixed. Then beat on high until creamy and smooth. Fold in oranges. (Strawberry jell-o and fresh strawberries & bananas can be substituted for the orange jell-o and mandarin oranges.)
(This is melt in your mouth delicious. I got this recipe from a friend in PJ's playgroup when we lived in Las Vegas, 17 years ago...)

Fruit Salad...

2 Apples

1 Large, Ripe Pear (if you can find a good one)

2 Oranges

1 Large Pomegranate

1 Large Banana

1 1/2 C. Miniature Marshmallows

1/2 Pint Whipping Cream (sweetened & whipped)

Whip the cream, sweeten; add vanilla to taste. Set aside. Add to a large bowl apples and pear, cut chunky, oranges, (peeled and cut into bite size pieces.) pomegranate, (open and remove the individual seeds to equal approx. 1 C.) slice banana into bite size chunks. Mix well to get the "orange" juice spread over the apples and bananas. Fold in marshmallows and whipped cream.

(James and I both grew up with variations of this salad. Ours is a combination of what we both liked in our separate salads. We agree that nuts have no place in it. Although a sprinkling of freshly grated coconut occasionally graces the salad on my plate...)

Peach Ice Cream...RAW

1 C. Fresh Frozen Peaches
2 Tbsp. Unpasteurized, Live Culture Yogurt
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. Pure Maple Syrup

In a food processor, process until desired consistency.

(The total calorie count for a 1+ C. serving should be about 105 calories. These are pure and natural calories. No chemicals or sugar substitutions. Compare to the Lo-Cal ice creams you can buy and the 1/2 C. serving size they offer. For taste and nutrition, this wins hands down! You won't miss anything if your family is eating ice cream! In fact, your family will ask for this instead of ice cream. P.S. These peaches were off my tree...)