Southern Peach Cobbler

  One thing about living in my house is that there are five seasons: Spring, Summer, Peach season, and Fall. And it is Peach season right now! There is a time right between Summer and Fall where all the fruit ripens, but peaches tend to overtake any of the other fruits produced on my "mini" farm. And then we get too many peaches, and don't have enough recipes to use them all! During Peach season we have buckets all around the house just filled with peaches ready to be used. And we can never use them all, even when we give them away! This is also the time of year where we eat peaches with almost everything, and all the peaches we dont use go to the chickens. Even then we can't get rid of them fast enough!
   So what do I do? I go on Pinterest and find recipes where I can use peaches. And, surprisingly, most of the peach recipes are pies or cobblers, with the occasional peach smoothie or peach ice cream. This time I found a peach cobbler that looked pretty tasty, and adapted the recipe from the original recipe found here. And man is it amazing!! The whole family will love this recipe, and it is one that will be made until we are sick of it! I have even taken this recipe to share with other families too, and even they loved it. So, if you experience Peach season in your household like I do, this will definitely be a recipe to try! This recipe is as easy as 1-2-3! And (as a bonus) this recipe makes the house smell absolutely wonderful.

First you will need some ripe peaches! I would recommend 4-8 peaches depending on the size. These beauties came off a dwarf peach tree in my backyard! We would have left them on to ripen longer, except KD kept tearing them off and eating them as a snack. Everyone loves their peaches in this family!

Then you are going to want to dice up your peaches. You can also cut them into slices, whatever your preference might be. Don't forget to de-skin them too, nothing is more unpleasant then trying to bite into your cobbler just to find a nasty skin.

   Then you will toss your peaches in a very large bowl with all the ingredients in part one. And yes, you will need a very very large bowl, since you will have a lot of peaches. Then pour that whole mixture into a 2 quart pan, and bake for 10 minutes.
   While your peaches are cooking, it's time to make your topping. Stir the dry ingredients together, then mix in the butter, and then save the water to add in last. When your peaches are done, coat them in the topping right away. Try to spread it out as much as possible, but it's not a big deal if you can't.

And then bake your whole confection for 30 minutes. If it is not done by then, then bake it until it has a nice golden brown color to it. Sprinkle some cinnamon-sugar on top, and then you are ready to go! This is definitely best served warm, but it tastes just as good either way.

Recipe:

Part One (Peaches)

4-8 Peaches, peeled and diced

1/4 cup White Sugar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

Pinch of Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

2 teaspoons Cornstarch

Part Two (Topping)

1 cup Flour

1/4 cup White Sugar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

6 tablespoons Butter, soft and cut into pieces

1/4 cup Boiling Water

Part Three (Cinnamon-Sugar)
3 tablespoons White Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees F

2. In a large bowl, combine peaches with the rest of part one in a large bowl and mix until the peaches are well coated. Pour into a 2 quart baking dish (un-greased) and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

3. In a different bowl, combine all the dry ingredients in part two. Then blend in the butter until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the water until just combined.

4. Drop spoonfuls of the topping over the peaches while still hot. Try and cover the peaches as much as possible. Then, sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar before replacing peaches in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top has a nice golden-brown color.

note: This is best served warm! It can be heated in the microwave, and be kept for up to a week(if it doesn't get eaten within the first few days)

Have you tried this recipe? Tell me down below in the comments!

Just a Little Hike

  Okay, so Laurie decided to take the day off so we could go on a hike! So we drive up Mt. Rose highway and get off at this trail head sign. We took the dogs with us too, they really needed the walk! And since there were three of us (Laurie, Macy, and I) and three dogs (KD, Lilly, and Spritze), it was perfect to go on this trail. The weather cooperated well today and wasn't roasting hot either, when we were walking it was only 77*. Pretty nice for a summer day!
   So we took the dogs out on this trail, and they loved it a lot! There was a lot of wildlife to see, and a lot of shade on the trail too. Sometimes it is nice to just get away from all the busy-ness and 

take a hike through the woods! It was also nice that it was fairly empty, then we wouldn't have to deal with our dogs barking so much! The one thing about this trail is that it is a lot of uphill walking, which isn't too bad since it was just a short trail. There were many littler trails connecting to this one, but we mainly stayed on the original trail. The last thing we want to do is get lost in the woods! 
   The colors in the forest were just beautiful. There is never a better time to go camping then when nature is in it's full glory. Speaking about camping, I am going next weekend to camp with Laurie and Macy! Anyways, all the flowers were in full bloom, and it was just a lot of greenery all around us!

    Sometime down the trail we came up to this little creek. How cute! There was also a lot of water going through it, which was a surprise due to the fact that it has been all heat and no rain here for the past few weeks or so. The water was definitely refreshing, as well as beautiful to look at! It was flowing nice and steadily  it even had a cute little bridge to cross over on! KD kept getting her hand stuck in the cracks between the boards on the bridge, but we made through!

I think the dogs liked it too! KD was in the water before anyone else! I actually took a slide down a tiny hill where I lost my footing, almost fell into the water myself! She would have stayed in the water all day if we didn't pull her out to move on! She was drinking the water too, and finally we got the other two dogs to drink some water as well. Lilly walked around in the water too, but she is just too fast to get a picture of!

   After the creek we moved forward on the trail. It was almost to an end! When we hit the end we crossed the street and went up to another trail that was quite close. This trail took us to an old Fish Hatchery and pond! The fish hatchery is no longer opened, but it is getting remodeled and ready to be re-opened as a recreational center. For boy scouts maybe? Anyways, inside the windows it was very spacious and looked like it had a mini kitchen or something. Totally cute and could work for a house if needed! It also overlooked this beautiful pond, and most of the forest as well. 
   This pond is man-made and stocked with fish as well. There were a couple families out fishing today, but we could all see the fish jumping in the middle of the lake, no where near the fishers! It's all in good fun, though, and that is what counts! KD also walked around in the shallow end of the pond, that dog loves her water!

After the pond we looped back around and went back to the car to eat some lunch. I had a turkey sandwich with grapes and a water, while Macy and Laurie ate ham sandwiches. The dogs even got their own little ham sandwiches! My dogs are soo spoiled, and they know it. It was nice to go on that hike, and the best part is getting to go home and taking a nap afterwords! All the dogs are tired as well, which makes everyone happy!!




Do you like camping or hiking? If so, comment where down below!