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Peachy Overnight Oats

Peachy Overnight Oats

After a summer of spending hours outside in my yard and filling my kitchen with tomatoes, the mornings have suddenly turned chilly. We moms are donning sweatshirts when we pick our kids up after practice, I am back to setting an alarm, and the biggest transition is, I am back to school. (If my father were still here, he’d be singing, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” That Staples commercial was his favorite).

Now, if you are an educator, you know the one phrase that will make your hackles rise and get your dander up like no other? Come on, say it with me… “It’s nice you get your summers off.” Growl.

In my original post, I listed all the reasons why this phrase is annoying but I edited them out. Suffice to say, it isn’t a nice thing to say to an educator.

Peachy Overnight Oats

I LOVE what I do. LOVE. I look forward to going to work. I tell my own children (both now high school students) you need to be happy doing whatever it is for your career path; because life is too short.

When I kick off every school year, my prayer is simple; “Let my love be greater.”

Greater than my education and my training.

Greater to see past what I think I know to what is.

Greater than some of the harder circumstances and background stories that my students bring with them to school.

Greater than the gap I need to bridge to get them from where they start to where they finish.

Greater. Enough to be someone who truly cares, who helps to make our school the safest, coolest place they want to be.

For every child, every day.

That has potential to be exhausting. Can I get an amen?

Worth it, so profoundly humbling and daunting a task, and my return on my investment is boundless.

Peachy Overnight Oats

All that to say, I already know it’s nice to have my summers off. You don’t need to say it in that snarky voice.

I have been making my cup of coffee or tea, looking out at my flowers, traipsing to Farmer’s Markets, wearing the same two pair of yoga shorts all summer.

I know I have it good.

So now, I am back to meal prep and planning, and again it means thinking ahead about healthy breakfasts.

May I present…overnight oats.

Overnight oats are great because you basically create a fun recipe the night before, place it in the fridge, and in the morning, boom, breakfast! If you make a bigger batch, more breakfasts! Or, share with others in your life! They will thank you!

Now, if you use regular oats, there is no cooking involved – you mix your oats with some almond, soy, or regular milk and it absorbs overnight; but I like using Steel Cut Oats.

Steel Cut Oats are available at any grocery store, and pack a nutritional punch, are high in fiber, and have a delicious nutty flavor. It also means they need a little cooking time before you layer them in the container of your choice – but it is worth the extra step. I use the recipe on the McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal container. Traditionally it is 1/4 C Steel Cut Oats to 1 C Water. I make a 1 Cup to 4 Cup batch, sprinkling oats into briskly boiling water, and simmer for about ten minutes, or until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. You can cook it more or less depending on how chewy you like your oats, remembering that they are going to sit overnight and absorb extra moisture. I tend to just let them go until they are mostly cooked. It’s easier. Easier is good.

I let the oats cool slightly.

Happy Morning Breakfast

Then, using mason jars (if you are cute and not klutzy – which is why I use plastic containers when I am not taking pictures) layer your oats with your favorite fruits and yogurt. The possibilities are endless. Eye appeal is important, so if you can make the mason jar work for you, you are luckier than I. I need plastic, boring, safe, but shatterproof. My dad used to say, “Good thing we didn’t name you Grace.”

At this peak of peach season, this recipe called for 1/2-1 ripe peach per jar, 1/4- 1/3 C prepared oats, and about 1/2 Cup of Peach Yogurt (I like Siggis). These are your breakfasts, you make them the way you will like to eat them. Like my yoga teacher says, “It’s just Yoga.” It’s just breakfast. You should like what you put into your body. More peaches? Go for it. More Yogurt? Dairy Free yogurt? Bring it.

Simply layer yogurt, oats, peaches, and repeat the pattern. Place the container in the refrigerator over night. If you make a batch of three or four, you have breakfasts set to go for a few days, and then it is one less thing to think about during the week! Or, if you are like me, you eat one for a snack instead of the brownie sundae you want to be eating, and then another one for lunch, because they are that good.

I hope this recipe makes life easier for you, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Peachy Overnight Oats

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Preparation the night before makes breakfast easy and healthy!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 Cup Steel Cut Oats
  • 4 Cups Water
  • 3 Peaches – diced
  • 2 Containers Peach Yogurt

Instructions

  1. Following instructions on the Steel Cut Oats container – Cook 1 cup Oats (My recipe called for boiling in 4 Cups Water) until water is absorbed.
  2. Cool Oats for a while.
  3. Using 3-4 containers, layer oats, yogurt, peaches. Repeat.
  4. Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

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Cinnamon Crumble Blueberry Muffins

The perfect blueberry muffin. Why are you so darn elusive? I have so many blueberries, and yes they can go in a protein smoothie. But little cups of cinnamon and blueberries fresh out of the oven call to me like sirens. “Chrissy…chrissy…come to me!” (Your food calls to you, right? No?)

My breakfasts are so healthy and almost never consist of a baked good. Hey, it’s only recently that I have made a point of eating: a.) breakfast and b.)healthy breakfast. I have learned that coffee, even if it is great coffee, isn’t breakfast (I know, I am sorry, but it isn’t). Now-a-days it’s yogurt, or fruit, or a smoothie, you know the drill. Avocado toast or protein cereal is usually the most carb-y I get for my morning meal.

But then, it’s blueberry season and I JUST CAN’T STOP. I continue to quest for a muffin with just the right crumb. No tunnels, no big pocket of air, no paperweights. Bursting with berries, smelling like a cinnamon candle, worth it’s weight in calories. If I am going to indulge in basically a mini cake for breakfast, it has to be really good. Cheat meal good.

This muffin has more spice in the batter, more spice in the crumb. The batter contains a combination of plain, greek yogurt as well as sour cream. It also has my new found super ingredients in muffins, raw apple cider and baking soda. This is a throw in the mixer batter, and easy to do.

As always, I put way more berries than the average girl. If it is a blueberry muffin it should be a blueberry muffin. Otherwise it’s just, oh I don’t know. yellow cake. With a blueberry dragged through it. And that cake is not worth the bake.

As always, I left some muffins naked (in our house that means no crumb topping) to soothe the savage beasties. The ones that still need to complete their summer work for school.

Maybe the fresh smell of baked goods will motivate them to finish Lord of the Flies and the AP work sitting on their desks under their swim masks, and the clean laundry that needs to be put away. Sigh.

Well, even if these muffins don’t inspire the completion of summer work, they do inspire me to get up and do the next thing on the checklist that composes my day. After all, its not every morning the siren call of berries and cinnamon call out to you, is it?

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Cinnamon Crumble Blueberry Muffins

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Cinnamon-y blueberry muffin perfection. What everyone should wake up to for breakfast!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes
  • Total Time: 37 minute
  • Yield: 18 -24 Muffins 1x
  • Category: Muffins
  • Method: Baking

Ingredients

Scale

 

 Muffins:

  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 C Granulated Sugar
  • ½ C Vegetable Oil
  • 1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • ½ C Sour Cream
  • ½ C Plain, Greek-style yogurt
  • 1 C AP Flour
  • 1 C Cake Flour
  • 1 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 ½ C Blueberries

Crumb Topping:

  • ¾ C Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 TBSP Cinnamon
  • 5 TBSP Butter
  • ¾ C AP Flour

 

Instructions

 

Preheat Oven to 350* and line muffin tins with liners.

In a mixer or in a mixing bowl with hand held beaters, combine oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. Combine until creamy and smooth. Add vinegar, sour cream, yogurt, and cinnamon. Incorporate flours and cinnamon at a slower speed, until combined (don’t over mix)

Fold in blueberries, scoop into prepared muffin tins.

If using crumble topping, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together, and cut in butter until crumbly.

Sprinkle on top of muffins, and bake for 18 minutes.

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Peachy Peach Cobbler

 

My love for Farmer’s Markets knows no end. I’m serious. Where some girls love the mall, you will find me with my reusable bag in hand, cash in my wallet, at least one child, and sometimes the dog. Oh, and my phone camera is on, because I am enchanted by bins of melons or stacks of radishes. I will be snapping pics as I go. At one point, I had a Farmer’s Market crush on the bread truck man. It could have been the chewy molasses cookies or the almond croissants he sold. I may be that shallow.

Why is a pile of beets or bags of freshly picked greens so alluring? I love the idea of local farmers and artisans selling directly, the camaraderie of the people shopping, supporting organic produce, and the fact that rain or shine, the sky is overhead and you get to know the people from whom you are purchasing your ingredients.

There are days I make Target runs. I also go to my grocery store, often. I have yet to be romanced by an end cap and florescent lighting like I am the vegetable laden table under a tent.

Anyways…this week one of the farmer’s market in my area (yes, I frequent several) had peaches. Fresh, locally grown peaches. White and Yellow. I needed both. The farmer told me not to eat them the day I purchased them, but within two days they would be perfection. They were. Peaches on salad, peaches in oatmeal, peaches next to my sandwich, and yes. Two desserts. I made a Peach Galette and this Peachy Peach Cobbler. Peachy Peach, because I used both white and yellow peaches combined.

When it comes to cobbler I need two things: The fruit has to be cooked down before the topping is added so it is bubbly and beautiful at the same time the topping is finished – AND – the topping can’t be biscuit like, nor crisp like. (We get enough crisp in the fall with apples).

So my dilemma. Can I make a topping that had the best of both worlds? Light like a biscuit and crunchy like a crisp without being so Crumbly and heavy? I tried!

I started the topping like a dough, cutting in butter. I used a quick cook oats so it would absorb moisture and have density but not heavy crunch. And to make it light? A trick where you add Baking Powder and boiling water right at the end. The boiling water and powder fizz up and give the mixture a little bit of puff without making it like a biscuit.

Also, I used light brown sugar to match the peaches and give the topping a little more caramel feel.

Two baking times, pre topping and post topping resulted in the sweet juicy bottom and the perfect texture top to match. If I could change this again (and I will) I would play with the spices. I kept it simple to not overpower the peaches, but part of me wanted more cinnamon.

Serve this warm with the good vanilla ice cream, (or maybe cinnamon ice cream?) and enjoy. It’s really the perfect dessert for the end of August, and hey, now I have room to go buy more peaches at the next farmer’s market.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Peachy Peach Cobbler

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Making use of fresh summer peaches with just the right amount of topping. Cobbler topping is right between a biscuit and crisp topping, matching the sweetness of the peaches for a delicious summer dessert!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

Peachy Peach Cobbler

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Filling:

  • 6 Cups Peaches (I used a combination of white and yellow peaches)
  • 1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • Juice of one lemon

 

Crumb Topping:

  • 1 Cup AP Flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Stick (8 TBSP) Butter (grated on box grater or cut into small cubes)
  • 3 TBSP Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1 Cup Quick Oats
  • 2 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 2–3 TBSP Boiling Water

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 350*

Combine filling ingredients and place in baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes until peach filling cook and thicken.

Combine flour, salt, brown sugar. Cut in butter into dry ingredients. Add quick oats and baking powder and combine. Add in vanilla. Add boiling water and stir quickly until mixture is moistened and combined.

Sprinkle crumb topping on top of peaches and return to oven. Bake for another 30-35 minutes. Peach filling should bubble up through the crumble topping. Serve warm!

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Oatmeal Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a confession. Actually it’s more of a life banner, if there was such a thing. There is no dessert of which I am not a fan. For a long stretch there was a dispassion when it came to strawberries, but for some reason, this spring strawberry love came back in full swing.

Now, I loves me some vegetables. I was a vegetarian for a few years, and embraced it, and so meatless meals are a steady stream in our house as well. But, I have to say, if I can incorporate that vegetable into some sort of sweet its a win win. What? It’s a zucchini cookie, it’s practically breakfast.

All teasing aside, I love this recipe which I found on www.howsweeteats.com Her Chewy Oatmeal Zucchini Cookies was the base recipe for this post.

I made a double batch of these, brought some to a field hockey tournament, the rest to coffee hour at church, and the responses were positive. They are chewy, and puffy, and filled with chocolate, oats, and zucchini, so they resembled tiny little zucchini breads. Just enough spice and sweet, and the perfect little mouthful.

Now, as always when it comes to zucchini, I am a huge fan of a fine grater. I like to grate the zucchini ahead of time and place in a colander over a bowl to drain. For this recipe I didn’t drain the zucchini for a long time, thinking the oatmeal would soak up the moisture. The other things I changed, and only a little, were the amounts of zucchini, spices, and chocolate. What can I say, when I get my hands on a nutmeg and a microplane, I go overboard. I also did my mix of flours, which could contribute to my cookies being more puffy and less chewy.

My mom has this gift, where she makes all of her cookies exactly the same size and shape. It’s one of her many talents. For this recipe, I really did try to strive for the same effect, so I scooped the dough, then rolled them in my hands before putting them on parchment lined baking sheets. I was close to Momma perfection. Ok, true story, we ate the ones that didn’t conform. The rule in my house is any ugly cookies are up for dibs. At least eating these we felt a little less guilty!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

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Oatmeal Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Perfect little cookies of zucchini, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. Original recipe is from Jessica Merchant of How Sweet it is @www.howsweeteats.com

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

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Oatmeal Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Original recipe based from www.howsweeteats.com

  • 2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
  • 1 ½ C Quick Oats
  • 1 Cup AP Flour
  • ½ Cup Cake Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
  • 2 and 1/2 Cups Finely Grated Zucchini
  • 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 12 Tbsp. Melted Butter
  • 2 Large Egg Yolks
  • 4–5 Tbsp. Milk (depending on level of moisture in cookie dough)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Cups Semi-Sweet Morsels

Instructions

Directions:

  1. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
  2. Combine melted butter and sugar, then add in egg yolks and remainder of wet ingredients.
  3. Combine wet and dry ingredients, checking to see if additional milk needs to be added.
  4. Add Zucchini, and chocolate morsels until all incorporated. Wrap dough in wax paper or parchment, refrigerating for at least an hour.
  5. The dough will be firm when you are ready to bake.
  6. Preheat oven to 325*
  7. Scoop out spoonfuls and round into balls between hands. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 14-16 minutes, removing parchment from baking sheets but keeping cookies remaining on parchment (magic trick! You’ve got this)!

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Birthday Blessings and Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

So today, I bumped up to the older age group box on surveys. I’m not so troubled by the actual number. There are certainly things I notice on the day-to-day, like the fact that I am certainly wearing more sunscreen and investing in a new skin regimen for reversing aging. Hey, a gal can hope. I’m also making healthy choices, tracking what I eat and exercising more, because I need to be living in this body for a lot longer.

One year ago, I made a goal to find a gift in every day. Whether it was the joy of my first cup of coffee, the way my daughter comes out of her bedroom all sleepy and beautiful, or the way my son will randomly give me an unsolicited hug. It could be the things I grow in my garden, the sound of my mother’s laughter, the way my puppy snuggles on my significant other. Every day, I anticipated and acknowledged the daily gifts I was surrounded by. I made it a personal challenge to, as my mother says, “Find the Good.”

Even though I didn’t journal about these gifts, If I could, it became a photograph, and I even used #everydayagift on my Instagram posts. So for me, I was able to document my gratitude journal in visual format.

Did it change me?

Absolutely.

Being aware of the gifts around me on a daily basis made for a more positive, thankful heart. It steeped me in gratitude. I stopped comparing myself to other people. I started to look for ways to bless others.

I can’t say I never had hard or blue days, or didn’t have situations where one of my children asked me why my face was angry, I am human. I can say I handled some pretty interesting stuff with grace that I might not have had, and it is something I will definitely continue to do moving forward. I’m a better person when I am a grateful person.

So, this morning, when I woke up, the few things I wanted to do on my birthday:

Surround myself with family, go to church so I could go forward for the birthday prayer (I was raised Episcopalian and it was one of my favorite things as a child), Field Hockey scrimmage all afternoon to cheer on my kid, and baking this banana cake. I can’t believe it, but I wanted this cake over everything else. It’s that good.

This recipe actually comes from the www.tastesbetterfromscratch.com website. The original recipe is Banana Bread Bars, I was just going to follow the recipe as it was, and then I made minor changes, the flour mix, more banana, and in the glaze, I used more vanilla and heavy cream instead of milk. It is so simple and easy to create.

Now, in my house there are always bananas, and I am not a banana snob. I will eat a banana with bruises. But even I have my limit; and end up peeling, plastic bagging, and freezing those babies. So, that is how I ended up with five bananas instead of the original 3-4. Thaw, mush up, add to the batter.

Browned Butter for Glaze

As for the glaze. Dear sweet goodness in a frosting. I know, browned butter sounds scary. It isn’t. You take the butter in a pan, turn on the heat, let it cook. Watch that it doesn’t burn and keep the heat low. When it is ready, add your glaze ingredients (I threw mine into the mixer) and combine until smooth. If you spread it on the still warm cake, it smooths out to this creamy layer of sweet, without being confectioner’s sugar sweet. It’s more like a penuche fudge flavor. If you are from New England, penuche shows up at fairs and festivals, it’s a burned sugar fudge that is insanely good.

Now, you can wait to cut this beautiful cake until it is cool, but on this quiet birthday morning, I just wanted a small square still warm without a plate, looking out at my flowers.

When did I decide every day was a gift? When my children

were little and I realized they would be big before I knew it. When my father was diagnosed with cancer and we had less than a year before he lost his brave battle.

When every school year goes by faster and faster.

When I am going to more funerals, volunteering to make meals more, and praying for more friends and families who are struggling. Realizing how really blessed I am.

Every day. Is a gift.

Leave it to my mother to find a place in my flowers to bring my Dad into this day. Cardinals are supposed to be our loved

Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

ones passed on, coming to visit. So he was here with us.

Today, I felt loved, which is all any of us want, right? To be truly loved? To be surrounded by the people who want to be with us and show up in our lives?

And here is this new blog thing, this beautiful new creative corner for me to do what I absolutely love. The things that bring me joy. I am learning and hopefully getting better every day.

So on this day, this perfect end of summer day, I choose to celebrate with this square of deliciousness. The rest will be boxed up and brought to school to make the first few days of school sweeter! I can’t have this around or I will eat the whole cake. No joke. And that does nothing for my eating healthy exercising more resolutions.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Birthday Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

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Delicious Banana Cake with Browned Butter Frosting. Based on the Banana Bread Bars recipe from Tastes Better from Scratch website.

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

Banana Cake:

  • 1/2 C Butter
  • 1 1/2 C Sugar
  • 5 ripe Bananas (If frozen, thaw and mash)
  • 1 C Plain Greek-Style Yogurt
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 3 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 3/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 C AP Flour
  • 1 C Cake Flour

Browned Butter Frosting:

  • 6 TBSP Unsalted Butter
  • 3 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
  • 2 TBSP Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 3–4 TBSP Heavy Cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350*
  2. Prepare a 9×13″ pan
  3. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth
  4. Add Greek-Style Yogurt, eggs, mashed bananas, and vanilla
  5. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes, until tester in center comes out clean.
  7. In a pan, (I use a larger wok style fry pan) melt butter and simmer until it turns a light brown in color.
  8. Remove butter from heat, add confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until the glaze is smooth and to the desired thickness.
  9. Spread frosting over the cake while it is still warm.

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Peach Galette

Nothing says, “I am an artisanal baker with a creative flair” like a galette. It’s baking snobbery, really. This elitist freeform pie with beautiful fruit filling bubbling to the surface. It’s ragged edges folded up just so. It brings dessert to a whole new level.

Except, if you have ever tried to roll out and fold a pie crust into a pie plate, then repeat the process over your filling…and pray it is enough…and get the top and bottom to match, then crimp edges, poke holes, etc.  you realize, a galette is really just a lazy man’s shortcut in the pie world.

A galette is actually quite brilliant because it makes a complicated process much easier, and makes you look smarter, and hey, who doesn’t want to be a show off when it comes to a fresh summer fruit dessert?

I saw a recipe on a post from smittenkitchen around the fourth of July for Star-shaped Red and Blue Berry Galettes for Independence Day. So pretty, so perfect…and the pastry dough had RICOTTA?! Say no more.

If there is such a thing as a food-spirit animal, or you’ve been asked what one thing would you bring to eat on a desert island if you could only have one food? It would be a hard question, but for me? Ricotta would win out.

Sure it wouldn’t be easy to keep on a desert island, and it doesn’t pack the nutritional value of broccoli. I’m aware. I also have no intention of being deserted on an island, so stay with me.

When you put ricotta into a crust, along with lemon zest, and fresh butter, it’s literally food porn. This dough rolled out so beautifully, and was flaky, pie crust perfection.

Now, I am a New England Girl- so I say Ga-Lette. Like Gi-llette stadium-yay Pats). I know this is wrong. But if you hear my voice when I am typing it, that’s how I am saying it. (It’s Ga-Lay in real life)

The beauty of a galette (is, you roll out the dough, place on a parchment lined baking sheet, scoop your beautiful filling on top in the center, and carefully fold up the edges.

This is not as difficult as you would think. Two reasons: 1. pinch with your fingers to make the dough go where you want it. You are the boss here.

2. “Bubbly fruit spillage is gross,” said no one ever.

Even if your perfect galette has one corner where the filling has bubbled over and made a fruity mess on the parchment, it kind of adds to the whole “I planned it to make my dessert look more free and artsy.” No one needs to know it was not on purpose.

My other go-to rule is I always pre-cook my filling. I hate HATE runny fruit filling. Such a disappointment. Sad little peaches and a puddle of peachy water. No thanks. It has to have a density to it before it goes in to the dough for me. It can only get better as it bakes. I’ve never pre-cooked my filling and ended up with a jam pie. It just hasn’t happened. So, take the extra step to make sure it turns out to be a hearty filling you can sink your teeth into.

Now, there are two schools on egg wash. Egg wash at the beginning or egg wash at the end. I’m an end times girl. I don’t want a dark brown pie crust and so my egg wash goes on right at the finish line of baking. Maybe 7-10 minutes before your end cooking time, pull the galette out of the oven, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with some sugar, and pop it back in to the oven.

I am going to say this…when you pull this amazing dessert out of the oven, bubbly, peachy, beautiful, you will want to break off just an edge piece to taste. I know. It’s just out there. But remember this, bubbly fruit filling is the same consistency of hot lava. It will burn you. Not that I know this from personal, ahem, experience. Just let it cool for a few.

On this day before I move up to a new age group check box (I hate those), I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to share this beautiful summer dessert with you. After all, on my almost birthday, I can be a baking snob elitist, right?

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Peach Galette

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Make this beautiful free form tart using the summer’s fresh peaches! No one needs to know this perfect summer dessert is easier than pie!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale

 

Crust:

  • 2 C AP Flour
  • ½ C Cake Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 4 TBSP Granulated Sugar
  • Zest of 1 Lemon
  • 16 TBSP Cold Butter, Grated
  • 1/2 C Ricotta
  • 3 – 4 TBSP Ice Water

 

Filling:

  • 4 Cups fresh, diced peaches (I used white and yellow)
  • 4 Tbsp Granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp Corn Starch
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ Lemon (juiced)
  • pinch of salt

 

Egg Wash:

  • One egg, 1 TBSP water – blend

 

 

Instructions

 

For Crust, combine flours, salt, sugar, and zest together. Cut in butter, until mixture resembles sand. Add Ricotta, blend. Add ice water as needed until crust comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

 

When ready to assemble galette, preheat oven to 400*

 

Place filling ingredients into a non-reactive pan and simmer on medium heat until thickened. Set aside.

 

Roll out crust on floured surface, place on parchment lined baking sheet. Place filling in center of crust dough, then carefully bring up sides of crust over the filling, leaving an open center for the filling to show.

 

Bake for 30 minutes at 400* until golden. I add the egg wash right before the galette is finished, for the final 7 minutes or so, then sprinkle additional sugar on top. You can do egg wash right at the beginning if you desire!

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Zuchinni Boats

When you go to Mimi’s house, not only do you get to swim, and throw the ball to Lexus (The Super Golden Doodle), and sit next to your best friend since forever; you also get trade secrets and recipes and all things magical that are in essence, Mimi. Oh, and she makes Zucchini Boats for supper and you are staying.

Do you have someone like that? Someone strong and kind, who speaks good things into your life? I am so blessed to have a collection of such of people. Because, truthfully, the last few years have had some real lows for us as a family. The people we surround ourselves with make all of the difference. Part of my whole mindset is to be thankful (thus the name of the blog). I know a good thing when I have it. So being at Mimi’s, and eating Zucchini Boats at Mimi’s table taste better.

However, here is the funny thing. When I asked her for the recipe and she sent me the link…hers looked different. When I asked her, I confirmed it WAS different, because just like me, Mimi does her own thing when it comes to recipes. Her words, “Sometimes, recipes are just suggestions.”

So, while this zucchini boat recipe is more the spirit of the law than the letter of the law, it was close enough to Mimi’s to make my kiddo happy, and that makes this momma happy.

Take three medium-sized zucchini and halve them. Scoop out the inner flesh and dice. Place the six halves in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 350*.

Zucchini Boats

Now for the filling. Truth be told, I was multitasking when I made this recipe (It’s how I roll). I was making meat sauce simultaneously, because, have I mentioned the abundance of tomatoes in my world lately? I make meat sauce with a combination of sweet and hot Italian sausage made down the road at my favorite Italian market. (Home to the best grinders as well.) Just saying. So, my measurements for meats may differ, and like I said, the spirit of the recipe…you may make your vegetarian and those would be Ah-MAY-zing.

Back to my multitasking sauce/zucchini boat skills…

While I sautéed onions, garlic, and sweet red pepper, it was for both recipes. I browned sausage and ground beef (lean) for the sauce, it was also going into the zucchini boats. The only difference was the fact that I chopped the zucchini “innards” and sautéed that with the filling mixture.

It’s a simple recipe, fill the zucchini boats with the mixture, bake in the oven for 30 minutes. I topped ours with two types of cheese (not all are shredded Romano fans…not sure where they came from). Serve with a fresh loaf of Italian bread and a salad.

Zucchini Boats

Now, our Zucchini boats were slightly different from Mimi’s, different from the video link she sent me, different from the Pinterest posts I searched looking for hers, but the bottom line is, a family supper served at a thankful table with people you love is the best recipe, no matter what. I think she would approve.

And for that, my heart is grateful.

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Printable Recipe

Zucchini Boats Printable Recipe

Zucchini Boats

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

 

Ingredients:

Three medium-sized zucchini

2 Tbsp. olive oil

½ pound lean ground beef

1 sweet Italian sausage (5-6”) link

1 hot Italian sausage (6-6”) link

½ onion, diced

½ red pepper diced

1 garlic clove

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 ½ Cups diced tomato (fresh or canned)

1 1/2 C Shredded Italian cheese blend

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Halve zucchini and scoop out inside to create “boats,” chop inside into small dice and set aside.

Place zucchini boats in a baking dish and cook for twenty minutes until tender.

Sauté garlic, onion and red pepper in olive oil, until soft.

Remove casing from sausages and brown, add ground beef and brown.

Add diced tomatoes and chopped zucchini and cook down until all incorporated and cooked down.

Take filling and place in precooked zucchini boats, top with shredded Italian cheese.

Bake at 350* until cooked through, cheese is bubbling and zucchini is baked through but still holds its shape.

Tomato, Roasted Garlic, and Ricotta Pizza

Knee deep in summer and I have tomatoes, oh boy do I have tomatoes. Sometimes supper is later in the summer, just due to the schedule changes and being outside more than in. On days when supper needs to be simple, it doesn’t need to mean drive through. I love sitting down to a supper (or who are we kidding, standing at the counter in the kitchen) and knowing what I made was better, and healthier. This is one of those recipes. Summer tomatoes over fresh ricotta on a crispy crust. Swoon.

Fresh Tomato Garlic and Ricotta Pizza

This pizza is as complicated as you make it. I used pre-purchased pizza dough, and you could even purchase a pre-baked pizza shell for this. I did not make my own ricotta. I grew the tomatoes and the basil, but there is the farm stand for that and let’s support our local farmers.

The hardest part of this pizza is the roasted garlic. If you don’t have a garlic roaster, you can roast the garlic head whole, wrapped in foil. I cut off the top portion of the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil and salt, wrap the whole head in foil, and bake in a 350* oven. If I am roasting garlic, it’s worth it to roast a bunch. The roasted garlic will keep in the refrigerator, but once you spread a little of that goodness on bread, put in soup or a crock pot meal, you won’t have it long enough on hand to worry about it spoiling.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of roasting garlic, you can bypass this step.For the pizza pictures in this post, I used Roasted Garlic Spread from Stonewall Kitchen. You can purchase roasted garlic spread. Not garlic bread spread with butter, just jarred roasted garlic. (Hey, I said this meal was simple)!

To make this recipe, drizzle dough with olive oil, spread the roasted garlic over the dough. Then, I spread spoonfuls of ricotta (have I mentioned my love of ricotta? It’s a serious condition). evenly over the dough. Think happy little spoonfuls.

Slice a variety of tomatoes and place over the ricotta and roasted garlic.

If you want to add fresh mozzarella at this point I say go for it. I didn’t add much, just a little here and there to add another layer of flavor.

A sprinkle of fresh basil (I chiffonade my basil – stack the leaves, roll tightly, and slice into thin strips) and bake at 375*

I baked this until it was bubbly, the crust was brown, and I couldn’t stand on the other side of the oven door any longer. Don’t judge. I worked in the yard all day.

This summer combination of fresh tomatoes and ricotta, roasted garlic, and basil was supper perfection. It will make a repeat performance, I promise.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Fresh Tomato, Roasted Garlic, Ricotta Pizza

 

Fresh Tomato, Roasted Garlic, and Ricotta Pizza

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

 

Ingredients:

One pizza dough (purchased, or made from scratch)

Olive oil

One small container ricotta – whole milk

Several tomatoes – sliced

Roasted garlic spread (or one roasted garlic head)

Basil (4-6 leaves)

Fresh mozzarella (sliced or torn)

Salt/pepper

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375* (or as pizza dough directions call for)

Place pizza dough on pizza stone or prepared baking sheet

Drizzle with olive oil

Arrange roasted garlic or garlic spread over dough

Spoon spoonfuls of ricotta over dough

Arrange sliced tomatoes over ricotta and garlic

Top with additional fresh mozzarella, basil, salt, pepper, any other herbs of choice and if you want, drizzle olive oil over top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked, cheese is bubbly, crust is done.

 

SO GOOD! Enjoy

 

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

Blueberry Crumble Muffins

When it comes to blueberry muffins, we are a house divided. I am a fan of crumble topping, or at least give me those big sugary crystals on top. Maybe because I like mostly the tops of the muffins. However, my children are purist when it comes to muffins. Just leave them as they are and thank you.

I’m also not ashamed to say cooking is my therapy. There is no problem I can’t solve when I am surrounded by ingredients and the cutting board, with music in the background and the puppy lying  on the carpet watching me. (More to follow on our puppy who isn’t actually a puppy). Some days, I just want to research recipes and cook and not make my own adjustments. Some days, I want to be in the zone. This was supposed to be that recipe. Until, oh wait, I didn’t have two of the major ingredients…and my pantry is pretty organized. Oh well. I grew up in the era where PBS showed the painter Bob Ross and all I could think was, “Happy little accidents.” These are the happy little accident of muffins, and I am thrilled with the result. My original recipe is from www.crazyforcrust.com They are the Starbucks Copycat Muffin.

This recipe uses Greek Yogurt (I had Siggi’s vanilla) instead of Sour Cream and Apple Cider Vinegar (I but the raw-organic unfiltered type). Between those two ingredients and the baking soda, these muffins are so light and perfectly textured, and easy to make.

Also, I like a little muffin with my blueberries, so this recipe has way more than the original called for. Now, if you are not a fan of a warm blueberry mess when you take your wrapper off of your muffin, by all means, just reduce the quantity. When it comes to muffins, if it’s going to be blueberry, it needs to be “all in” blueberry for me.

Now for the crumble. When I make muffins, we do both. Yes, I am a good mom who respects the wishes of her children when it comes to baked goods. If you on my delivery route of goodies, you get a mix of both. That’s how I roll.

This batter is so pretty, and light, I filled the muffin tins 3/4 of the way full, and set my timer for 15 minutes. Because muffins with burned anything are paperweights. No thanks. These were perfect at 18 minutes, but every oven is different, so be on the watch. This is serious business people. It’s like the final minutes of a game. (To be noted I am not the athlete in my world, I am the athletic supporter. Pun intended).

Blueberry Crumble Muffins with and Without Topping

The final result is actually one of the best muffins I have ever made or eaten, so my therapy kitchen session turned blog fodder, a happy accident indeed.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

 

 

Printable Recipe

Crumble Blueberry Muffins Edited

Crumble Blueberry Muffins

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Muffins:

2 Eggs

1 C Sugar

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

½ C oil

1 tsp Apple Cider vinegar (raw, organic, unfiltered)

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 Cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used Siggi’s vanilla)

2 ½ – 3 C Flour

1 to 2 Cups Blueberries (depending on how blueberry-ish you want them)

 

Crumble Topping:

½ C Flour

½ C Brown or white sugar

4 TBSP melted Butter

1 Tsp Cinnamon

 

Directions:

Prepare muffin tins with liners and set aside, preheat oven to 350*

 

in standing mixer, crack and mix eggs until yellow and smooth in consistency.

Add sugar, and oil and combine

Add vanilla, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and salt

Remove from mixer and add vanilla Greek style yogurt

Blend in flour, then gently fold in blueberries.

Scoop into lined muffin tins until ¾ full, add crumble topping (or don’t!)

 

Bake at 350* for 18 minutes

Citrus Blackberry Scones

Citrus Blackberry Scones

It all began with a Facebook post. A friend from church posted a question, “Would anyone want blackberry plants? We are thinning out ours.”

To which I replied, “YES!” and three small shoots went into the ground behind our shed.

Three years later, I am picking blackberries by the quart daily and looking for recipes.

Blackberries are an interesting blend of sweet and tart, and when baked, turn into a beautiful jewel like color bursting with flavor.

Scones, on the other hand, how do I say it? Haven’t been my first choice in baked goods, because…they don’t burst with jewel like color and flavor. They present to me a challenge. I’m aware that a REAL scone is not the kind of scone you see at certain bakeries or specialty coffee shops (give me a cranberry orange or pumpkin scone from one of these places, but I know it isn’t a true representation…). It’s a great baked good, but the shame of scones. Call it a flat muffin maybe? I don’t know. Anyway, before proceeding, I called in my British life-liners.

I asked both of my friends about the art of scones, the flour and technique – they each sent me to the same BBC website for a recipe (www.bbcgoodfood.com). Which is awesome. Until I consider I am a Reading Teacher, and not a Math Teacher. Conversions from metric had me searching website calculators like nobody’s business.

The following recipe is a combination of my desire to be true to the scone, and yet fill it with citrus and fruit. Oh, and glaze. Because, that’s authentic… I tried. I really did. But a girl’s gotta have glaze.

The texture is dense but not too dense. the combination of cake flour and additional leavening makes them light but not cake-y. They are not too sweet, and the bang of the berries with the citrus is spot on.

When it comes to anything citrus, I am always disappointed if it is lacking. Don’t give me a lemon cake and the most lemony part is the yellow color. Blah.

So color me thrilled when my best friend and mandatory taste tester said this recipe was “lime forward.” Boom.

Here is one trick I saw on another blog, absolutely brilliant, (www.halfbakedharvest.com)and that is to grate the stick of butter like you would a block of cheese. This made cutting the butter into the flour mixture so much easier.

My other off trail change was the addition of an egg to the milk that goes into the batter. It did lighten the scone’s density and made it match the weight of the berries. As an aside, I used frozen blackberries for my recipe- simply because I am not using my berries fast enough and its easy to pick and pop into the freezer.

These scones are bright and flavorful, without being too sweet, and they are the perfect compliment to a cup of tea.

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

 

 

Printable Recipe:

Citrus Blackberry Scones Final

Citrus Blackberry Scones

Ingredients: 

3 Cups Cake Flour

½ Cup Sugar

3 Tablespoons Lemon/Lime Zest

1 Stick of Butter, grated and chilled

1 egg beaten plus enough milk to fill ¾ cup measure

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 Cups Blackberries (fresh or frozen)

sugar for dusting

 

Citrus Glaze:

 

¾ C confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp lime extract

2 tbsp. citrus juice

mix in hot water until desired thickness

 

Directions:

Combine cake flour, citrus zest, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar until combined.

Grate one stick of butter (8 Tablespoons) on large side of grater (refrigerate if necessary after grating – you want your butter cold)

Cut in butter into flour mix until butter is small enough to resemble sand

Beat one egg in a ¾ cup measuring cup, add additional milk to cup to fill.

Mix in egg mixture to dry ingredients. This will be a dry and tender texture. Fold in blackberries.

Turn mixture onto a flat surface and shape into a circle. Slice into eight wedges.

Place wedges onto parchment lined or Sllpat lined baking sheet.

Dust each scone with sugar.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

 

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle on top of scones when baked.