Peachy Groovy

Yesterday we discussed cookie dough love; today we'll talk about peaches.  Because the two are obviously equally matched.

I like peaches quite a bit,  but, let's face it, no matter how you spin it, peaches are not chocolate.

However, when you put peaches on a vanilla-y crust and top with a brown sugar, nutty crumble, you really can't go wrong.

Click on the hyperlink to get the peach cobbler bar recipe.  It's sort of a cheater recipe because it uses a cake mix, but can we just stop and talk a moment about the wonder of a yellow, or in this case, french vanilla cake mix.  I mean, the aroma alone is enough to make my spirits soar.  I'm a chocolate kind of girl.  I eat handfuls of chocolate chips and have often tinkered with the idea of offering my first born up for sale to the first person who brings me a chewy brownie the size of my head.  On a side note, my mom used to make brownies with peanut butter frosting.  I know!  Could there be anything better than that? 

However, as loyal as I am to the dark stuff, when it comes to birthday cake, I'm a yellow cake girl through and through.

Also, this recipe uses canned pie filling, which is gloppy and not very attractive, but it does its job.  In order to bulk up the peachiness, I also added some drained canned peaches.

Side note:  do canned peaches smell funny to you?

According to the recipe, you mix up the peaches, and spread over the cake mix/oatmeal crust, which went unpictured (I think because my hands were all gummed up from pressing the crust into the pan).

Then you top it with a crumble topping.  The original recipe called for pecans, but I used almonds.  I went to buy pecans at the regular grocery store (read:  not the commissary, aka the pricey store) but they were super expensive.  I bought the cheaper almonds, instead, only to find a bag of pecans in the back of my pantry after I already baked the bars.

Okay, back to the crumble topping.

I once knew a woman who didn't like crumble topping.  Talk about baffling.  I mean, really?  What's not to love about sweet, crunchy brown  bits?   Apropos of nothing, that same, crumble topping hating woman also proved to be a pathological liar/bad check writer.  She also still owes us $450 for the couch she 'bought' from us when we left Maryland and moved to Georgia in 2005.  Something tells me we're not going to ever see that money.

So we're out $450, but at least I have peach cobbler bars to make me happy.

They look enticing in the unbaked state;

but they're virtually irresistible when they emerge from the oven all golden brown and delicious.

But first, we must let them cool (and remind ourselves to practice courageous restraint, because they're for the teachers) before we cut them into bars and sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

I hope the teachers like them.

I was at the luncheon when it first started and I didn't see anyone take one, but that was early in the game. 

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

But wait, baking week isn't over yet.  Today was 'bring a goodie for the teacher day' in Caroline's class.  In honor of such a special day, I made my tried and true double chocolate chunk cookies.

Which we placed in these cute little lunch sacks and tied with a ribbon.

Caroline has three teachers but we also chose to include her beloved 2nd grade teacher,  the two PE teachers and her art teacher.  They all need a little chocolate love, too.

I found these cupcake bags on clearance at Michaels for .09 a piece! 

But, I only bought four of them, so I found the other green and blue bags at Walmart 4/$1.

In a way, I'm glad baking week is over because  I hope to restore my disaster zone kitchen to its usual tidy standard.  And also because I ate more chocolate yesterday than I have in several weeks.  I had one batch of cookies fall flat; they were too ugly to give the teachers, but not so ugly that I didn't help myself to one or three of them.

On the bright side, I think the cookies helped fuel my run this morning. 

Behold the power of chocolate.  Er...peaches.

Crazy About Cookie Dough

It's baking week around here!  Hooray!

I made quite a mess in my kitchen yesterday as I prepared baked goodies for the Teacher Appreciation Lunch at Caroline's school.  I made two things:  cookie dough cheesecake bars and peach cobbler bars.




For the sake of not going into photo overload in this post, we'll just talk about the cookie dough cheesecake bars today.

Because who doesn't love cookie dough?

I should also add that instead of pulling out Ebony, my faithful Kitchen Aid mixer, I used Ebony's under appreciated and oft forgotten step sister, the hand mixer.

With no offense intended to my beloved Ebony, I just didn't feel like hoisting her out of her resting spot and cleaning any extra equipment.

I've made these cheesecake bars several times before; it's hard to go wrong with a tried and true recipe.

Especially one that starts with a graham cracker crust.

You know what is better than a graham cracker crust?

A chocolate chip graham cracker crust.


This is a messy recipe.  And one that requires the dirtying of many, many bowls.  It's worth it, though.  Trust me.

Next up:  make the cookie dough:

And roll into little balls.

It's tedious, for sure, but again, totally worth it.  Especially when you sneak a few dough balls as you're rolling.  They're egg free, so no worries for the food police type.  Like me.

The cheesecake filling is next.  This is where Ebony's step sister came in handy.  She may not be as pretty or as powerful, but she did the trick.  Even hand mixers need love every now and then.

Then we fill the crust,

top with dough balls

and admire the beauty of such a creation.

Baking happens.  Then there is cooling time.

Next up?  Drizzle!

I went a little overboard on the drizzle, but I can't help it.  Drizzle, like glaze, makes all things better.

Amen.

The pan must chill for several hours and then we can cut into squares.

Behold the beauty of a cookie dough cheesecake  bar.

 I hope the teacher's liked them.  Especially because my kitchen was destroyed in the creation of this dessert; I'm not sure it'll ever be the same.  But you know, given the amount of time and attention they give our kids, they deserve so much more than some baked ziti and a cheesecake bar.  I'll happily mess up my kitchen every day if it means Caroline is getting a great education from fun and caring teachers.

I'm so thankful for her school and for her teachers. 

Tomorrow we'll talk about peach cobbler bars.

An Apple For the Teacher

Except, in this case, the 'apple' is really warm, homemade snickerdoodle scones covered in an apple tea towel and labeled with an apple shaped tag.

As I mentioned yesterday, I tried a different scone recipe, but decided to go back to my tried and true snickerdoodle scones.  As Caroline's teacher said, "you really can't go wrong with snickerdoodles."  Unless, of course, you don't like cinnamon.  But who doesn't like cinnamon?

Anyway, this year's Teacher Appreciation scones look awfully similar to last year's offerings.

However, last year I omitted the cinnamon IN the scone dough (as evidenced by paler scones up above).  This year, I followed the recipe exactly and added a cinnamony powdered sugar glaze on top, which yielded a darker colored scone.  All of which went unphotographed because we were in a rush to get out the door yesterday morning.

Had to get those scones (and coffee) to the school before the mad rush of children made their way to the classroom.

They were pretty, though.  And tasty.  You'll just have to trust me on that.  Believe me, I know of what I speak.  And, not to mention, I'm my own worst critic, so if they weren't tasty, I would have surely let you know.

Nothing but honesty here at the Neurotic Housewife.

This is random picture thrown into the mix because I was practicing bokeh.  Slowly but surely I'll figure out all the manual settings on my camera.


Anyway, as I mentioned above, we brought Caroline's three teachers Starbucks and scones yesterday to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week.  Last week I had Caroline take their drink orders so we knew exactly what to get them.

A word to the wise:  it's best to spell your teacher's name correctly, especially when your mom puts a picture of it on the Internet.  Caroline's teacher is Mr. Stillions, not Mr. Stilloins.  :)


They seemed to appreciate the effort.   I hope they liked the scones. 

I have more baking in store this week for the PTA sponsored teacher lunch on Thursday, plus according to our room mother's note, Friday is 'bring goodies for the teacher day.'    I have a feeling we'll need to provide them all with gym memberships by the end of the week!

At least Thursday is a non-caloric day.  It's bring in school supplies day!

We went a little overboard in the school supply section at Target, but I couldn't help it.  I love Caroline's teachers and they really deserve all the coffee, scones, Sharpies and white board cleaner in the world for all the hard work they do. 

It's not easy putting up with 27 nine year olds.

Camera Roulette

I have the habit of taking random pictures throughout the week.  Mostly, I take them for potential blogging purposes.  But sometimes?  Well, sometimes I don't really know why I bothered to whip out my camera in the first place.

I'm sure I must have had a reason at the time, but, sometimes that reason isn't very clear weeks later.  It's kind of like when you put something in a certain spot and you just know that you'll remember where it is because that location  is SO OBVIOUS.  And then two weeks later when you're looking for that item, you can't remember where in the world you put it.

Anyway.... I took some pictures of the soccer snacks we brought to the game on Saturday.

Why?  Who knows.

Oh yes, now I remember.  Instead of the usual sticky orange slices the girls eat at halftime, we brought clementines.

They're super sweet and a definite crowd pleaser.  Sure, I had to peel and segment twelve clementines, but compared to the mess of slicing juicy, sticky oranges, this worked out really well.  All the girls seemed to enjoy them, too.

Typically, the end of the game soccer snacks are something along the lines of fruit punch and chips or Oreos.  I like fruit punch and chips and Oreos as much as the next person....and the girls definitely enjoy them, but when it's my turn to provide the snack, I have a hard time going that route.  It's as if I feel a certain amount of obligation to provide the kids with a decent snack.  Of course, I don't balk at the other post game offerings and I allow Caroline to eat the food provided. 

But yes, I'm THAT mom who provided organic thirst quenchers and goldfish graham crackers.

At least it's not water and unsalted pretzels! 

I did my part, which I suppose is what matters.  Next week they'll eat Oreos and hopefully Caroline will share with me.  :)

After the game on Saturday, I tested a scone recipe for Caroline's teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.  The scones were okay, but I chose, instead, to go with an old, tried and true standby:  snickerdoodle scones.

But that part doesn't really matter.  What matters is how incredibly messy I am in the kitchen!

Ugh.


In other news, look what I found at Target yesterday!

Otter Pops!

Please tell me you ate Otter Pops as a kid.  They were a mainstay in my young life.  So much, in fact, that when I was in high school, well after I stopped eating them, my parents bought our entire family Otter Pop t-shirts.  They thought it would be fun, but, I (a snotty teenager who was too cool for school) thought they were a bunch of big dorks.

I know there is a picture of us wearing them somewhere.  Unless, of course, I refused to participate in that family bonding experience.  I wish I could remember.  Why are the details becoming so fuzzy?

But seriously.  Do you remember Otter Pops and all the cool characters?

Such memories!

I always had a thing for Sir Isaac Lime.

 Most kids don't like lime flavored things, I but did; still do.  Likewise, when Craig eats Skittles, he eats the orange and grape, which are his favorite and I eat the lemon and lime flavors, which Craig isn't a big fan of.  He eats the red ones, too.  But the orange and grape are his special favorites.

How complementary of us.

I bought something else yesterday.  A Misto.

So long Pam cooking spray.

And finally, to wrap up this bizarre camera roulette post, I took pictures of my current food obsession:  roasted tomatoes.

It's hard to believe that these fresh tomatoes

turn into this

They make a KILLER addition to a grown up grilled cheese sandwich.  Crusty bread, gooey mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and roasted tomatoes.

Yum!

May Flowers

First, how is it May already!?  It's crazy scary how quickly time passes.  I'm almost halfway to 35, but let's just pretend that's not happening, okay? Ignorance is bliss, my friends.

It's no secret that April presented us with lots of rain.  Let's just hope that because of all the rain, May's flowers are more beautiful than ever.  Our azalea bushes are on the verge of full bloomage and I cannot wait. 

Right now, we have one solitary bloom.

Wait.   

Make that two solitary blooms. 

Creepy bunny is keeping a watchful (and pupil-less) eye on that one bloom.  Soon, however, the whole bush will be covered in hot pink petals.  Hopefully our watch bunny will loosen up a bit when the azaleas bloom; he looks a little tense (and scary!) right now. 


Every spring I say a prayer that I didn't do something egregious enough to kill the azalea bushes.

I feel a sense of responsibility towards them because they're not mine.  Our landlords probably planted them and would more than likely appreciate it if I didn't kill them.

In the near three years we've lived here,  those bushes have been squashed by bikes, nearly run over, dried out by the high summer sun and buried under piles of snow. 

And yet, despite our negligence and the brutal elements of the unforgiving weather, spring after spring, the buds reappear.

And bloom in vibrant color.

Happy May!