Today in Deb’s Kitchen…

Granola. A little short on the oatmeal proportion because it scorched a bit while it was in the oven.

I was busy dealing with slimy, slippery, naked peaches. I bought a bag of them yesterday to bake with, figuring, how hard could it be? Because, of course, it’s been years since I tried peeling peaches. I’d forgotten how much I truly hate peeling them. I even tried the blanch-in-hot-water-slip-the-skins-right-off method but really, no. It worked on exactly ONE peach, but none of the others. So, I manually peeled these slippery things and then sliced them … and, seriously, as much as I love peaches, it’s going to be at least another 5 years or so before I peel any more of them. (Or at least, if I can help it.) Otherwise, they’re going to be eaten like this in our house from now on.

Well, AFTER we finish the cobbler I made today. Peaches on the bottom, biscuit on the top. Mmmm.

Then, I was in the mood to make cookies … another rare thing. I had made a batch of large, chewy oatmeal cookies the other day, to help fill in the empty places after lunch because my tooth was too sore to eat a sandwich like I usually do, and a bowl of yogurt just isn’t quite satisfying enough … but yogurt with an oatmeal cookie stuffed with dried cranberries and walnuts? Yes, definitely.

So, I baked a batch of those on Tuesday while my parents were at the movies, but I’ve been thinking about how much I’d like some soft, chewy ginger snaps (my favorite cookies, next to traditional, soft chewy Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies like my grandmother made). Except … no ginger in the house. No chocolate chips, either. I almost never want to make cookies, so it’s frustrating to be in the rare, rare mood to make them and not have the necessary ingredients.

So I made these. Hermits. Mostly because they were the first recipe I came across in the cookbook that I had everything I needed, and wasn’t chocolate. Of course, they’re jam-packed with raisins and I really don’t like raisins very much … not sure what the rationale was, there. They’re pretty good, though (despite the raisins), even though I haven’t heard from the other family members yet, to know what they thought.

We had pot roast, too.

But, you know, sometimes the simple things are the best of all. I LOVE cherries, and bought a bag of them at Whole Foods yesterday, and they’re almost gone already. It’s really a good thing that cherry season is so brief … they’re addictive, like potato chips. I can’t eat just one.

We all went to the park yesterday. A gorgeous Saturday … in fact, let me just say that as hot a summer as this has been, and as wet as last week was, August 2010 has had a FINE line in Saturdays. No matter what the rest of the week was like, every Saturday has been a gem. (And coming from a hot-weather-hater like me, that says a lot.)

Anyway, we took Chappy to the park yesterday and met a whole bunch of really nice dogs–full-grown and puppies. (A couple really cute puppies, in fact.) The only drawback, where Chappy’s concerned, was that, while trying to dip his hot, tired paws in the stream for a quick splash, he SLIPPED, and fell into one of the deep spots and got wet all over. He did NOT like that. He doesn’t care that genetically he is a water-spaniel retrieving dog, he prefers his paws firmly on the ground, thank you, and only likes water in his bowl (except for the aforementioned occasional splash).

All three of us, I’m sorry to say, laughed lovingly at his shock and disgust, even while I was helping him out of the stream. (This is where leashes attached to harnesses really come in handy. You can’t really PULL on a leash attached to a collar.) Naturally, it was right after that, while his fur was still dripping wet, that we bumped into about four more really nice dogs. How embarrassing! Though one dog didn’t even care. All he wanted to do was stand in the stream and bark at reflections. Unlike almost every other dog I know, he completely blew off the dogs standing nearby, greeting and sniffing. All he was interested in was the stream. And the barking. It was cute.

Oh, and since he was wet already AND had played with one of the puppies in the middle of the dropping-strewn horse trail, Chappy got a bath when he got home. It’s just the way it goes.

Still, all in all, a good weekend. And if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go find something to snack on!

Tags: Baking // 2 Comments »