Recipe: Ginger Peach Muffins

Earlier this summer I made a Gingerbread-Peach Upside Down Cake and awoke this morning craving muffins with the flavour combination of ginger and peaches.  After a brief search I found a recipe for these beauties.  These were so tastey with the bite of ginger and earthy sweet peaches.

A kitchen I would die for.

Love the combination of lime green with cream.

Our MOMS Club had a breakfast potluck and everyone brought beautiful and tastey dishes.  Our host recently moved into their renovated vintage home and I couldn't stop taking pictures of the beautiful details throughout the house..

They built in this pantry & broom closet.

Look at those slate floors!

GINGER PEACH MUFFINS
adapted from Grouprecipes.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups peeled diced peaches
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp flour
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, first amount of ginger and first amount of cinnamon in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

In a smaller bowl cream together butter, apple sauce, egg, and sugar. Mix in peaches and milk.

Pour into flour mixture, and stir just to moisten (it will be lumpy).

Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full.

Mix together brown sugar, and second amount of flour, ginger and cinnamon.  Sprinkle mixture over top of muffins in tins.

Bake in 400 F oven for 20 - 25 minutes, let rest in pan 5 minutes then remove.  Serve warm.

The outside of these muffins came out crunchy. 

Perfect with the soft moist inside.

Printable Recipe

Happily submitted to Family Friendly Fridays over at Mommy Cooks!

Enjoy!

from the book "Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever"

pictures and story by Richard Scarry

1968, Golden Press

I purchased this book from a local thrift shop.

I got free peaches!

Yesterday the "peach man" was selling his wares at the Farm Center parking lot.  I bought two bags at $6.00/piece and noticed he was throwing some into a bucket outside the van during his sort to fill my bags.  I asked him what he was going to do with those and he said get rid of them unless someone wants them.

Last week I read a good article by Stephanie over at Saving Naturally about Why We Waste Food: Are We Too Picky?   In Stephanie's article she says:

"The only thing that could probably be said for them was that their imperfections offended my culturally-influenced concept of what “good” food ought to look like."

This really got me thinking about that bucket of bruised and imperfect peaches and all the things I could do with them.  Even if I couldn't think of any wonderful baked desserts and peach goodies, there's always smoothies that make any imperfect fruit look good.

I still have never canned or preserved any great quantities of food, but I was sure I could figure it out.  So, I asked him if I could have them and he said "sure!".  He went through the rest of his crates to pick out the "spoils" and I took half a crate of FREE peaches home!

Once I got them home I panicked a bit.  Whatever I was going to decide to do with them had to be that day and fast before the fruit flies and rot quickly set in.  I searched the internet and found some great freezing tips on http://www.pickyourown.org/ but the task still seemed overwhelming.  So, I called my dear neighbour and friend, Sarah, to see if she could help.  She came right over and showed me how to do everything.

We put a few at a time into a boiling pot of water for about 30 seconds, then quickly transferred them into an ice bath for peeling.  After peeling we laid them out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and placed them in a freezer.  Once frozen, we transferred them to freezer bags. 

We could've added some juice or sugar syrup to the peaches prior to freezing them but decided not to.  These aren't going to last that long.  We also put some in jars that we planned on using in the next couple days.  In the end we ended up with about 3 jars each and 2 freezer bags full of peaches - all for free!

I wish I could've taken mroe photos of our work but we had to move quickly as a big storm was rolling in fast.  Outside looked like this within moments of her driving home to bring all our peach scraps to her chickens.

Look at how far my poor trees are bent over on the left. 

The temperature drop was 20 degrees within minutes.

I hope you'll be inspired to take a second look at imperfect produce and recognize that it's still useable and worth a try.  Hey, you might even get it for free!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Baked Chicken with Peaches

Yum, yum, yum!  Oh this was sooo good having juicy peaches in every bite!  Like all roasted dishes, this came together very quickly and was easy to make.  The tricky part was cutting up the juicy peaches.  I served this with fresh-picked sweet corn on the cob.

I was originally going to make Peachy Keen Chicken from Mommy Cooks! but didn't have all the ingredients I needed.  I found this recipe at All Recipes.

BAKED CHICKEN WITH PEACHES
from All Recipes

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup brown sugar
4 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Place chicken in the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Place peach slices over chicken, then sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, ginger, cloves, and lemon juice.

Bake for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven, basting often with juices, until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
 

Printable Recipe
 
Enjoy!

1962, Franklin Watts, Inc.

This book is from our local library.

Recipe: Blueberry Peach Salad with Thyme

Make this fruit salad to celebrate the first day of summer or anytime.  Made with fresh peaches and blueberries with ginger, lemon and thyme.  A perfect salad to take with us in the cooler for our Father's Day ride on the boat yesterday. 

The kids loved this salad and all asked for seconds.  The ginger and thyme are very pronounced but the sweetness from the peaches and blueberries add balance to this salad.

BLUEBERRY PEACH SALAD WITH THYME
from Simply Recipes

4 peaches

4 nectarines (I used 8 peaches)

1 cup of blueberries
2 teaspoons of fresh, chopped thyme (I used 1 -1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, will use less next time)
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of sugar  (I used 2 packets of Truvia)
Or 1 tablespoon of agave syrup in lieu of water and sugar

If using water and sugar place them into a saucepot and bring to a boil and liquid is reduced by half into a simple syrup. Allow to cool.

Chop up the peaches and nectarines and place them in a bowl with the blueberries. Pour over the cooled simple syrup or agave syrup. Add the thyme, lemon juice, lemon zest, and ginger.

Stir and cover with plastic wrap, place in the fridge and allow to macerate for one hour. Serve.  Serves 4-8.
(I made this in the morning, then placed it into a plastic container, and we put it in the cooler until late that afternoon.  It still tastes great this morning).

Printable Recipe

Enjoy!

from "Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens"

by Mary Mason Campbell

pictures by Tasha Tudor

1971, Western Publishing Company

Recipe: Gingerbread-Peach Upside Down Cake

Gingerbread and peaches is a wonderful, tastey combination.  This is a fresh summer dessert that both adults and kids will love.  I brought this to a cookout we attended this weekend.  I didn't have much time to prepare anything and this was quick and simple to make. 

I was so nervous when I flipped this cake over as it was my first upside-down cake.  Thankfully, it turned out beautifully.  You simply peal and dice peaches, layer them in the bottom of a cake pan, then make your gingerbread batter to spead on top, bake, cool, and flip - done!

This recipe is from my favourite cookbook, the Hay Day Country Market Cookbook which I picked-up at a garage sale for $1.00.  What a treasure this book is and you'll soon see many more recipes from it like Lemon Sugar Snap Cookies, Oatmeal Crisp Cookies, Raspberry-Ginger Scones, Curried Chicken and Basmati Soup and lots more.  I've flagged at least a dozen recipes to try!

If you do bring this cake to a cookout or a neighbour's home, be sure to attach one of these beautiful tags from Joy Ever After. Her site is stuffed with oodles of inspiration and free printables.

free printable tag (and photo) from Joy Ever After here

GINGERBREAD-PEACH UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
from Hay Day Country Market Cookbook

4 cups peeled, coarsely chopped ripe peaches
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

In a large bowl, toss the peaches with the brown sugar and lemon juice. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan and spread it in an even layer.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses and mix until smooth. Add reserved dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, mixing to form a thick, smooth batter. Spread batter evenly over peaches.

Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; then invert the cake onto a large serving platter.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Printable Recipe

Enjoy!

from the book "Bruin Furryball in the Toy-House"

Trnka-Menzel

Andrew Dakers, London