It's Summertime!

And here in the South, that means PEACHES.

As a displaced Northerner, the idea of picking peaches is a new one to me.  And having lived down here for a measly... erm... 14 years and never gone peach picking... well, that's just downright sinful.

So, next week, we're going peach picking.

I think.

:P

In the meantime, I'll hit all of the $0.88/lb sales of deliciously ripe, locally grown peaches going on at the neighborhood grocery stores....

In order to make THIS:

PEACHES AND CREAM PIE

3/4 c sugar
3 tbsp flour
3/4 c whipping cream
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Approx. 3 peaches, peeled and sliced (in half or thinly... either way works)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix flour and sugar.
Roll out pastry for one 9" crust into a pie crust plate, or 8"x 8" glass pan. (I used a 7"x 11" glass pan)
Pour half of flour/sugar mixture into pastry.
Arrange peaches on top. Do only one layer!
Sprinkle rest of the mixture on top.
Pour the whipping cream evenly over all.
Sprinkle the surface with cinnamon.

Cover the edges of the crust with foil.
Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350, bake for another 30 minutes.

Before serving, make sure to let the pie cool.  It will not be set when you take it out of the oven.... and you don't want to serve soupy pie!

Be prepared for some insanely amazing smells to emerge from your oven.

Also, expect some wrinkled noses at how this dessert *looks* after it's baked.  My nephews roundly turned their noses up at the sight of it, but then polished off both pies after having one taste.

:P

Oh, how I love summer baking!!

:)

I MUST Be Feeling Better!

Dinner tonight is EGG ROLLS.

These are a Nutty Family Fav.  Everyone loves them, all of our friends rave about them, and I'd rather stick my head in a food processor than make them.

They are a lot of work.

Luckily, you have to spread the work out over two days, so that by the end of it, it doesn't seem so bad.  But at the beginning, when you know you'll be working on these things for two days?  Yeah, suddenly you aren't really up for it.

I got this recipe from a friend of mine.  It's her mom's recipe, and famous among all of my IRL friends.  I think I may be the only one crazy enough to attempt these on a regular basis.  But let me tell you, it is sooooo worth it!

So, without further ado (or daunting predictions...)

BECKY'S EGG ROLLS (read the parenthesis! very important!)

3lb ground beef, browned (make sure there are no big chunks)
9 T sugar (use the soup spoon, NOT the measuring spoon on these)
3 T salt
1 T black pepper
3 eggs + 1 yolk (save the extra white... you'll use it to seal the egg rolls)
1 onion, chopped fine (I chop the veggies in the food processor)
7 carrots, chopped fine
1 turnip, chopped fine
8 oz. bean thread noodles (soak for 25min in warm water)
3 pkgs. spring rolls (25 count each)

~Brown the ground beef, chop the veggies, and mix all together with the sugar, salt, pepper and eggs.  When the noodles have softened, cut into 2" long threads with kitchen scissors.  Add to ground beef mixture and stir in well. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Do NOT skip that step.  The flavors need to meld)


Now... this is where it gets fun!
:)

You will need a deep fryer.  And tons of vegetable oil.  Heat the oil to about 300 degrees. While it's heating, take out your spring roll wrappers.  They need to thaw for about 15 min.

This is how your "work station" should be set up:

Separate a wrapper and place it on a plate. Spoon a portion of your filling into the bottom corner of the wrapper.

Start rolling.

Fold the edges in.

Continue rolling. Then spread some egg white on the top corner.

This will seal the egg roll.

Place it in the deep fryer.  And fry until golden brown.

Take out the egg rolls, and let cool on a wire rack.  This is very important!  Drying them on paper towels alone will make them soggy, not crispy.  We like crispy!

And voila!  This is about 1/4 of what you will make when finished.

Serve with sweet-n-sour sauce, or (my favorite!) duck sauce.

This recipe should get you close to 70 egg rolls.  You can keep them covered in the fridge... (Maybe even freeze them?  I don't know, never had to!)
To re-heat, just place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put under the broiler for 5 minutes, turning once.  They'll still be crispy!

Enjoy!
:)