Peach Bundt Cake

Yesterday I ran the Peachtree Road Race (along with 58,000 other people).  It was hot, and my training has been fairly slow lately.  I was JUST fast enough (by one second) to qualify for the "B" wave again, if I run it again.

Why is this relevant?  At the end of the Peachtree Road Race are peaches.  Tons (literally) of peaches.  They told me I could take as many as I wanted.  They told me I could fill my bag.  I filled my bag.  I ended up with 20 peaches.  Now people who know me know that I would rather eat a peach raw than cook it into a dessert.  However, when you have 20 peaches, there are desserts to be made.

Yesterday I made peach chocolate chip pancakes.  They were as tasty as they sound and as easy as they sound.  I won't elaborate.

But the next treat was an obvious one.  I was preparing lesson plans and realized that tomorrow is Volume by Washers day.  (By this we mean it is possible to find the volume of a solid formed by rotating a region around an axis... you don't care so I'm not sure why I'm mentioning it).  So obviously I need a bundt cake to be a solid of revolution in my demonstration (this happens every time I teach Calc 1 or 3).  And obviously it needed peaches.  Here is a recipe like many I found.  I added Greek yogurt for a little moisture, though some of the recipes I found also did this.

Georgia Peach Pound Cake

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh peaches, pitted and chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Butter a 10 inch tube pan and coat with white sugar.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla and yogurt. Reserve 1/4 cup of flour for later, and sift together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Use the reserved flour to coat the chopped peaches, then fold the floured peaches into the batter. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Proof a girl doesn't need chocolate to be happy: Blonde Brownies

So I gave up chocolate for Lent.  I once gave up chocolate for a month.  Let me tell you, it's not easy (at least for me who gets home from a long day and just wants a small piece of dark chocolate to unwind)!  I've felt like I needed to bake recently, and it seems like all recipes I'm drawn to have chocolate.  I thought about something like snickerdoodles, but somehow they didn't seem rich enough.  A nice brownie sounded good... so instead, I'll make blondies!  Yes, I probably should have gone to Smitten Kitchen for inspiration, but instead I stopped by Martha Stewart, and found this lovely recipe.  I left out the toffee chips because the only ones I had were coated in chocolate.  In all honesty, I am typing this as they bake so I haven't actually tried them.  But I licked a bit of batter (which is something I swore I would never do again, but my memory is starting to fail me and I know longer remember how miserable food poisoning feels) and it basically tasted like chocolate chip cookie dough minus the chocolate chips.  And I think that this is an acceptable alternative to chocolate chip cookies.  Especially since there are warm and gooey butterscotch chips present.

• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped (about 3 ounces)
• 1/4 cup toffee bits

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix, scraping down sides of bowl, until well combined. Mix in butterscotch, cashews, and toffee.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into blondies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, 42 to 45 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Apricot Sugar Cookies

So I've been craving apricot cookies for about 4 months, but didn't really have any reason to make these.  I have limited cookie cutters and the only pair that makes these cookies well is the circle and heart combo.  Which makes them perfect for Valentine's Day.  I did make some strawberry because I had some strawberry jam lying around and not everyone likes apricot.

I got the recipe from my mom :).  Thanks Mom!

3 c flour

1 1/4 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

3/4 c butter, room temp

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

apricot preserves

 

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside.  Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Gradually add flour mixture and beat until well blended.  Cover and chill at least one hour.

 

Line cookie sheet with foil; set aside.

 

Roll dough to 1/8-in thickness on lightly floured surface.  Cut out with 2 1/2-in diameter cookie cutter.  Cut centers out of half the cookies with 1-in diameter cookie cutter.  Transfer cookies to foil lined sheets.

 

Bake at 375 degrees until just beginning to brown on edges, 6 to 8 min.  Remove from cookie sheets and cool completely.

 

Spread 1 t apricot preserves over each whole cookie.  Top with remaining "cut out" cookies sandwich style.  Makes 2-1/2 to 3 dozen cookies.  Centers can be baked as a separate treat; watch carefully, they bake quickly.

I topped the heart shaped middles with a little strawberry frosting:

Strawberry Frosting 

• 2 Tbsp of butter at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp Cup Strawberry Preserves
• 1/4 Cups Powdered Sugar

Lemon Risotto

After a very lengthy hiatus, I've decided I need to get back into food blogging.  I've made plenty of new things, I just haven't been posting.  So I'll start with this amazing lemon risotto I recently made.  I served it with salmon and broccoli, and the risotto was DEFINITELY my favorite part.  It also went perfectly.  I cut the recipe in half, which I sort of regretted, but risotto is usually not good for very long.  The recipe is from Bon Appetite and can be found here.

3 cups canned low-salt veggue broth

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large shallot, chopped

1 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice

1/8 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

1 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I used basil and was very pleased with the outcome)

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Bring broth to simmer in large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Add rice; stir 1 minute. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups hot broth; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is creamy and tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in parsley, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Season risotto with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl and serve.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com:80/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Risotto-106451#ixzz1m1PoEtar

Stereotypical American food, conference edition

So Americans have some kind of gross eating habits.  When I was at my conference in early May, I went to a restaurant that I shall not name in Columbus with a bunch of Europeans.  They immediately noticed the most disgusting (and stereotypically American) item on the menu: deep fried hamburger.  Several of them ordered it.  I took a picture.  I think the worst part was most of them ate the whole thing.