Peach Gooey Butter Cake

A delightful summertime dessert, this gooey butter cake is topped with fresh peaches. It starts with a boxed mix and is ready for the oven in no time!

Follow me | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook

Half this year is over. I think it's time to set a few goals. One of my goals is to get better at actually using fresh fruits when they are ripe and abundant. Not to toot my own horn, but it is my blog and I do work to pay my hosting fees and all so . . . I'm pretty good at putting up fruit by freezing it.

shown here: peach jam, peach salsa, frozen peaches, shrimp gumbo, shrimp cocktail, shrimp salad . . .

I'm also pretty good at using that frozen fruit in a wide variety of ways. From Blueberry and Sweet Corn Waffles to Cheater Margarita Smoothies, I figure I've got a handle on the endless pints of blueberries I freeze each year.

What I lack in decent photos of the finished product, I make up in messy kitchen photos. My life!

For fresh fruits I make a variety of savory dishes. I've shared Black Raspberry Goat Cheese Crostini, Cherry Peach Salsa, Sweet and Spicy Chicken, Peach, and Chile BBQ Pizza, and Beet, Blueberry & Goat Cheese Appetizers on this website as a few examples.

No, what I need to work on is using fresh fruit, in season, as dessert. Last night I made (and ate,and didn't photograph) a peach and blueberry cobbler using the last of The Peach Truck peaches and some blueberries from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share. [I got a fruit share this year. Score!] Tonight I'm going to make a patriotic Cherry Blueberry Cobbler to eat with the vanilla ice cream my son made this afternoon. I'll try and remember to take pictures so I can share it.

Today I want to share a tasty dessert that I have lousy photos of. See, along with using more fresh fruits while they are in season, I need to work on making more desserts for my family. Dessert seems to be something I make for other people, not for just us. After I get the entree and any sides going, I just don't have the energy to make a dessert. When I take a page from Alanna's playlist, and cook something every day, I have leftover sides a plenty and can take the time to make a dessert.

Hot and Spicy Zucchini Pickles

Use that zucchini or summer squash in a delicious new way. These spicy pickles are a terrific accompaniment to bratwurst, and bring a feeling of summer all year long.

Follow me | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook

When I mention that I've been canning something, people respond 'oh, I'd like to learn how to can . . .'  like I say I'd like to learn how to weld. As if canning is something that requires schooling, apprenticeships, or anything more involved that just boiling water.

Really. The mystique needs to be swept away. I'll be teaching a salsa making class at my local community center in September (when all of those tomatoes and peppers are overflowing the markets) to do my part to dispel the illusions. I hope this recipe will help nudge you into canning if you're uncertain. It makes a small amount--just 2 pints--and that fits easily in a tall pasta pot if you've got one.

I decided to try this recipe because, as with all gardeners, hope springs eternal. Despite my previous squash pickle failure (which resulted in my Pickled Pork Sliders . . . salvaging a canning failure into a decent meal) I wanted to try again. Between my volunteer squash and those in my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share I was awash in squash.


I hit up my local library for cookbooks. Who says Summer Reading Programs need to be limited to novels? In the Better Homes and Gardens Can It! Cookbook  (Amazon affiliate link) I found the inspiring recipe. I modified it based on what I had on hand while keeping the key elements (acidity of final product and length of processing time) intact.

The recipe notes suggest eating these alongside bratwurst. While my cousin Jim would probably disagree (he thought mustard on my bun was heresy), I thought the spicy slices were a nice addition to a brat. I'm also glad to find a way to use the abundant garden volunteers that pop up throughout the yard.

For more recipes using zucchini, please see my Zucchini Recipes Collection. I've also got a Summer Squash Recipes Collection if you're waffling on what to call the squash in question (those bicolor ones can be tricky). These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

Grilled Cherry Muffins #Muffin Monday

Grilled cherries and greek yogurt flavor this sweetly wholesome breakfast treat.

Follow me | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook

The first bag of cherries to enter our house gets demolished in a matter of hours. My daughter and I  have had pit spitting contests, the kitchen trash becomes a spittoon, and my spouse always seems to step on the sole stem that ends up on the floor.

Our whole family enjoys fresh cherries, so when they go on sale at the local grocery store I buy them. And buy them, and buy them, and buy them. After a few bags, I'll looking for other ways to enjoy fresh cherries. I've chopped them up with peaches to make a fresh (i.e., not canned) Cherry Peach Salsa.  I've tossed them in smoothies. Most of the time, though, I pop them in my mouth, one after another.

Last summer, while having a blast with our new grill, I grilled cherries. Game changer! If you haven't grilled cherries, you should. They are totally tasty and exceptionally easy. Rinse whole cherries (stem and all), toss into a bowl, splash with a bit of cooking oil to coat . . . and they are ready to go on the grill. How easy is that? I used my grill basket, and had my gas grill preheated to medium heat. Stirring occasionally, my cherries were grilled in 8 to 10 minutes.

After you take the cherries off the grill, pick up the stem end and pop the (slightly cooled) cherry in your mouth. Yum! Spit out the pit (heck, you're probably outside already) and enjoy that buttery goodness a moment longer. It's not exactly like a bite of cherry pie filling, but it's on the spectrum.