Peachy keen

Years ago my g-friends and I were on one of our out-of-towns trips and we were touring the hill country.  When we went into Fredericksburg for a day of “girl-fun” we lunched at the Peach Tree Restaurant.  For some stupid~stupid reason, we must’ve been in the sun too long and experienced heatstroke side effects, but we voted to order their peach crepes for our dessert.  Guess what?  The order only had one crepe…there’s four of us!!!  Needless to say, we devoured it and it was the ultimate! Peachy keen!!! and the most decadent peach infused dessert I have ever had!  We talk about those sweet crepes all the time–it’s that memorable y’all!   We also decided immediately after that, that we’d never lose our stupid-crazy minds like that again and that we would NEVER order just “one” of anything when we’re all together.  Especially since we all clearly love food!

So it’s PEACH SEASON Y’all!!!

Local peaches from Stonewall, TX are just the best guys!  They are my absolute favorite peaches—and I’ve tried many.  I was so excited one day when I was sitting on my back patio when I realized that we now live so close to where I can just drive over and stock up on some of those awesome peaches.  That’s just what I did this week!

My anxiety level reached its peak every time I looked at the highlighted dates I had set aside to make my “peach hording” trip.  I bought enough to take to my momma’s, on my trip south this coming weekend and plenty to freeze.

When I arrived home, I washed, peeled, sliced and put bags in the freezer.  I set some aside to make crostata’s.  Made enough for two—one for our neighbor’s and one for us.   BTW our neighbors think it’s great that they get so many goodies, I told ’em that they just benefit from my blog content and it’s not that I wanna share! I’m just experimenting on them!  My sweet guinea pigs! lol

PEACHY CROSTATA  (2 tarts – serves 6/each)

4 c fresh peaches (sliced)

1/4 c brown sugar (extra to sprinkle)

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1 t rum extract

1 t vanilla extract

1 T lemon juice

2 T cornstarch

2 pie crusts (or refrigerated Pillsbury kind) 

1T cream (for garnish)

2 T large crystal sugar (for garnish)

• Preheat oven to 400°
• Toss the peaches in a large bowl with the brown sugar, cinnamon, rum, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and flour. Set aside.
• Roll the pie crust out into a large circle, (12 inches). Doesn’t have to be a perfect circle. On a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper, place the pie crusts a few inches apart from each other.  Pour spoonful’s of peaches, along with any of the liquid, onto the center of the pie crusts, leave a 2 inch rim on all sides of the peaches. Distribute the peaches evenly to form a flat layer (it’s okay to pile ’em up on top of each other). Sprinkle a little added brown sugar.
• Fold the pie crust sides up and over the peaches, then brush the crust edges with the cream. Sprinkle the sugar crystals all over the brushed areas.
• Bake for about 35-40 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the peaches are bubbling. Serve warm with a big scoop of ice cream or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

One of these days when I nail peach crepes, that’s what I’ll make, but for now, I have to tell you that while I indulged on a slice of hot crostata, a cup of hibiscus tea, while sitting on the back porch…

I gave thanks for sweet memories, awesome peach crepes & bountiful peaches!

Now off to finish prepping for my trip.  My son is finally done recording his new album so we are headed south for a few days & we’re gonna celebrate with family.

Happy weekend y’all~