Peach & Blackberry Crumble

Ingredients:

...fruit filling...

1 (16 oz) bag frozen sliced peaches
2 (5.6 oz) containers fresh blackberries, cleaned and dry
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 TBS cornstarch

....crumble topping...

1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
6 TBS butter, cut into small pieces

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a square baking dish with cooking spray.

* Combine peaches, blackberries, lemon peel, 1/3 cup brown sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish.

* Using a food processor, first combine AP flour, almonds, salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar using the pulse setting. Next add butter pieces and continue to pulse until the consistency of the mixed ingredients has become chunky.

* Top the fruit mixture in the baking dish with the crumble mixture from the food processor.

* Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

* Let cool for a minimum of 10 minutes before serving.

* To score big, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Disclaimer: Apparently today is the day I couldn't read a recipe to save my life. 3 different times I messed this dish up and was sure it would be inedible. The dish was quite tasty, but I give you fair warning so you can learn from my mistakes....read the recipe, read it again, and then read it one more time. It can't hurt! Happy cooking!!

Thai Spiced Chicken Pitas

Assemble ingredients for chicken patties:

1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lb ground chicken
1 TBS fresh ground ginger root
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp Thai seasoning (I used Spice Islands Thai Seasoning blend)
1/2 tsp salt

* Combine in a medium bowl, shape into patties and grill fully cooked. (Internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F)


Next, prepare the sauce and vegetables to fill the Pita with the grilled chicken patties:

For sauce -

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt

* Combine sauce ingredients well in a small dish

Veggies -

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into small thin sticks
1/2 small red onion, sliced


Fill 1/2 split Pita round (we used Whole Wheat) with a chicken patty, sauce, and vegetables.
This is a quick and delicious twist on the pitas we normally eat. The Thai seasoning really adds an interesting flavor!

Thinking about cake...

Pasta Sauce Plus

Tonight we are eating Spaghetti for dinner. Spaghetti like my Mama used to make!

Since we are going to cook a batch of pasta sauce, I decided to go ahead and cook enough to have sauce in the freezer ready for the next time we want to eat pasta.

We put a lot of vegetables in our sauce, and when in doubt - we add more tomatoes.

Making a double batch of pasta sauce to use half now and freeze half for later is a wonderful way to make the kitchen a more productive place in our home.

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 TBS minced garlic
1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (26.5 oz) can prepared spaghetti sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with onions & green peppers
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup red cooking wine
2 tsp Italian seasoning blend
1 tsp sugar

- After browning ground beef and draining, combine with all other ingredients in the crock-pot.

- Stir occasionally while cooking on LOW for 3-4 hours.

- Divide prepared sauce. Use half for dinner and freeze the other half in a freezer safe zipper bag or freezer safe container with a lid. (Don't forget to label!)

Mackerel Cakes

Mmmmmm, Mackerel Cakes.

Comfort food. These rank right up there in my book with my Grandmother's fried potatoes and blackberry dumplings. The holy grail of Grandma's cooking used to be her yeast rolls, but she doesn't cook them anymore.

That's a shame too.

As a child, we ate home cooking. Grandma's home cooking when my mom was at work. Our vegetables came from the garden, our fruit came from the fruit trees below the pump house or the blackberry bushes along the pasture fence line. Strawberries? If we didn't eat them all before we got back to the house, we even had a small bunch of strawberry plants.

When I got married, (19 years ago this month), I couldn't cook to save my life. My new husband and I ate a lot of fast food that first year. I tried and failed to recreate the delicious recipes of my childhood and never quite got them to come together to make an edible meal.

Last month we put Mackerel Cakes back into our menu plan. Honestly, they fell apart on the griddle. The Mackerel Cakes tasted good but they were more like hash instead of the Mackerel Cakes of my childhood.

Tonight, was a re-do. A very successful re-do!

As I type, I am happy to say there are no leftovers and all 5 family members loved the Mackerel Cakes tonight.

This is definitely a recipe we need to keep in our rotation!



Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can mackerel, undrained
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1/2 chopped white onion
3 TBS buttermilk
2 eggs, beat lightly
1 cup bread crumbs

- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

- Proper consistency is reached when a spatula stands up in Mackerel mixture.

- Preheat griddle or grill pan to Medium heat.

- Scoop Mackerel Cake mixture onto hot non-stick griddle and squash into patty form.

- Cook Mackerel Cakes 3-4 minutes on each side. Cakes should be firm, crispy, and easy to turn.

**Makes excellent sandwiches with sliced tomatoes**