Summer Time

First, a poem from my childhood.

Munching peaches in the summer,

Munching peaches cool and sweet,

Munching peaches morn to midnight,

Munching peaches. Such a treat.

Munching peaches. Munching peaches.

What a way to spend the time.

While munching,

munching,

munching peaches,

I had time to write this rhyme.

~Lee Bennett Hopkins

Three guesses as to what this post is about!

Liz and I are going peach and blackberry picking at Homestead Farms on Friday. I am very excited. I haven't been fruit picking in years.

This past weekend, I got to hang out with one of my best college friends, Niki. While we were there, we made two delicious Peaches'n'Cream pies. I'll pass the recipe on to you, because it was ALL sorts of amazing.

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker pie crust (we used store bought- no time to do a homemade one)

First layer:

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened (just a regular sized block)

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of milk

2 cups of coolwhip

Second layer:

2 thinly sliced peaches (bite sized peaches, preferably peeled 'cause no one likes the skin)

Third layer:

1 3.4oz package of instant French Vanilla/Vanilla pudding

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup coolwhip

Tools:

2 mixing bowls (unless you want to just use one and wash in between layers)

Electric mixer

Whisk

Rubber Spatula

Knife/vegetable peeler for slicing/skinning peaches

Measuring cups and spoons

Directions:

Bottom Layer:

1. Unwrap the pie crust

2. Using the electric blender, mix the cream cheese until it's fluffy

3. Add the sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk and mix until creamy

4. Fold in the coolwhip

5. Spread into pie crust.

Peach Layer:

1. Peel and slice peaches

2. Press peaches into the cream cheese layer. Be liberal.

Top Layer:

1. Put pudding mix into a mixing bowl and mix in 1 cup of milk (yes, the box says to use 2, but we want this to be thick)

2. Mix in almond extract

3. Let the pudding sit for a few minutes, until it's slightly set.

4. Mix in the Cool Whip. The pudding may be slightly stiff, so the mixer might be easier.

5. Spread onto the peaches.

6. Garnish with extra peaches on top.

7. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 3 hours before serving.

I dare you not to like this. So good and cold and fresh tasting!

One of my Favorite things...

...is something my mom made as a kid and called it "Frosty Treasures" it is also called "snowman poop" and "puppy chow." Ringing a bell?

I made some Friday night around 10 pm because I was craving it on the way home from eating on of my top 10 favorite burgers, ever, from Urban Burger Company in Rockville. I had been craving a cheeseburger for a full 24 hours, after reading an article about cooking them on Serious Eats, mainly their "A Hamburger Today" portion. A quick search of The Washington Posts' "going out guide" led us to Urban Burger. It was delicious. If you live in Maryland, especially those of you near College Park, it's worth it. It was $19 and change for 2 delicious, made-to-order burgers, an order of fries (you only need 1 order for 2 people, trust me!) and 2 sodas (they had Old Dominion Root Beer on Draught-amazing).

Anyways, back to the real story here-Frosty Treasures.

My mom would make them when the cereal in the pantry was starting to get a bit stale. She'd throw other stuff in there too, like stale marshmallows (my mom, sisters, and I all seem to like our marshmallows stale...mom will buy Peeps on sale, stab a hole in the cellophane, and give them to us the next Easter. delicious.), pretzels, m'n'ms. Whatever was lying around.

Ingredients and Tools:
1 cup creamy peanut butter (in case you haven't tried it yet, Giant's brand is GROSS. Wegman's is amazing)
1 12oz bag of chocolate chips (most recipes call for semi-sweet. I used Hershey's milk chocolate because I was going for the "Reeses" taste)
5 tablespoons of butter (most recipes call for a whole stick, but it doesn't need that much. You can probably use less. Or use cooking oil, whatever you prefer)
1 box of Crispix cereal [(Any of the Chex works as well-Rice, Wheat, Corn.)(If you have any other snacky foods that are going stale, or you're just sick of eating plain, put some of those in there, too. (Speaking from experience, Cheddar Goldfish are GROSS in there))]
2 cups of powdered sugar

Tools:
A microwave
A microwave safe bowl large enough to hold the chocolate, peanut butter, and butter. (A 4 cup pyrex is perfect)
Wooden/mixing spoon
Either a large ziploc bag (gallon sized or bigger) or a large plastic bowl with a lid.

Here's what you do:
1. Melt the peanut butter, butter and chocolate in the microwave. I do it in 1 minute increments, stirring as it gets melty. You want it to be pretty liquidy, but not to the point of separation. You could use a double boiler if you want, but it will take awhile.
2. While the stuff is in the microwave, pour the cereal into the large bag/bowl.
3. After the PB/chocolate/butter mixture is melted, pour it over the cereal. Seal the bag/bowl and shake vigorously until the cereal is well-coated.
4. Pour the powdered sugar in, and shake it up again until the cereal is whiteish with sugar. You might need to add a bit more if the cereal mix won't coat.
5. Now you can eat it. It might look a little iffy, but it is so good!

Enjoy!

It makes good gifts at Holiday time! Pour some in a bag, stick it in a festive mug, and voila!