After making the Banana-Blueberry Muffins yesterday, I still had some of the streusel topping leftovers, so I sprinkled a little over the pancakes as they were cooking. Hey, one can never have too much streusel in their life! See yesterday’s post to get the ingredients if you don’t have any streusel mix laying around but wish to do the same. Just cut the quantities down to about a fourth of the original amounts. This is one of the Optimum wellness foods. Full of nutrients and great for the body.

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Now that Marissa is living back at home, the house is always filled with a boatload of friends. Her boyfriend, Albert, and three other friends from Tucson drove up yesterday and stayed overnight. Luckily, I picked up a 2-pound box of blueberries at Costco yesterday and I happily found 3 overripe bananas in the fridge. Thus they shall have these muffins plus blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Actually, by the time they roll out of bed, it’ll probably be more like brunch. The pancake recipe will be up tomorrow.

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Yep, it’s my 300th post. I have to confess, I never thought I’d really do it! I can’t think of one other thing in my entire life that I’ve done this consistently on a daily (or near-daily) basis before… well besides brushing my teeth, I suppose.

Well, another thing I’ve done very regularly for the last seven years is to keep my hummingbird feeder full. Not as easy as it may seem. I am seriously devoted to the little devils. I snapped the photo of this sweet guy a couple of days ago while he took a rest on a nail used to hang our Christmas lights. I love to watch them zip around and really appreciate their feisty attitude… so aggressive and defensive for ones so small. After taking the hummer photo, I checked on the herb garden and peach tree and when I discovered how many ripe peaches there were – I had to make a wonderful summer cobbler with them.

So today it’s dessert and backyard photo day! Pictures of my peaches and sunflowers to go along with the resting little guy above.

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Looking for a pretty dessert to impress and feed a crowd?  Then a trifle is what you’re looking for.  Never heard of a trifle?  Trifle is a dessert made with thick custard, fruit, cake (generally sponge cake), and usually some sort of liqueur. The ingredients are arranged in layers beginning with the fruit on the bottom.  I purchased my trifle bowl at Crate and Barrel, but have seen all sorts of versions around, including this 4-in1 Pedestal Cake Sand and Dome Cover. Of course, you don’t have to go out and purchase a special dish, just use any large clear bowl that will show off the lovely layers.

When making the lemon curd, the safest way to slowly and evenly cook the eggs without them scrambling is by using a double boiler. This does not need to be a special piece of equipment.  A bowl and a saucepan are all you need.  Simmer water is in the saucepan, which is filled about 1/3 full.  The bowl with the curd mixture is then placed on top of the pan, taking care to be sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl.  This allows the curd to cook slowly and there is no need to strain the curd once it is thickened.  I prefer to use a whisk to combine the ingredients in the bowl, but then switch to a heat-resistant rubber spatula while cooking in the mixture.  The spatula does a more efficient job of moving the mixture without allowing for hot spots.

My liquor of choice for this trifle is Limoncello, which is an Italian lemon liqueur originally produced in Southern Italy. It is made with the lemon zest of the Sorrento lemon, 100-proof alcohol, and simple syrup.  It is made by extracting the essential oils from the lemon zest by soaking in the high-proof spirits over a long period of time and then diluting with simple syrup.  The end result is a pretty yellow in color and is sweet and lemony but not at all sour since it does not contain any actual lemon juice. You can purchase Limoncello in any liquor store and many grocery stores.  It is simple to make your own too, any lemon variety will do, you do not need to search out Sorrento lemons.  There are dozens of recipes online and it makes a much-appreciated gift, if you get busy now, you can have it ready for the holidays… hint, hint!
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Summer was officially over Monday, but it lingers here in Arizona for quite some time to come!  This is a gorgeous and refreshing summer salad.  No need to heat the kitchen, just fire up the grill. I serve this with a cold and crisp Rosé wine and slices of warm crusty French Bread.  Oh darn, I just realized that you will need to turn on the oven to toast the hazelnuts, oops!  Well, the reason I forgot is that when I bring home a package of hazelnuts, I immediately toast the entire bag and then store them in the freezer and just pull out the prepped nuts when needed, you can do the same and you’ll be ready to go for the next recipe that calls for them too because hazelnuts are almost always used toasted and skinned.

To toast and skin the Hazelnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts (also known as filberts) in a single layer of a baking sheet. Toast in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly colored and the skins begin to blister.  Remove from the oven and immediately wrap the nuts in an old (but clean) kitchen town and allow to steam for 2 or 3 minutes. Rub the nuts in the towel for a minute or two creating a lot of friction between the nuts and the towel, to remove the loose skins.  All of the skins won’t come off, so don’t worry.  Carefully pick out the nuts and set them aside. Shake the towel outside or over a trashcan, be careful or those little skin bits will be all over the kitchen. You will want to use an old towel because the skins will stain the towel, so just wash it and use it the next time you are preparing hazelnuts. [Read more →]

One of the many great links I have on this site is for Zoe Bakes. She is an amazing baker and bread maker.  Her September 8 post was for a Wild Blueberry Crisp. Since there aren’t too many wild blueberries in Scottsdale, (OK more like none in Scottsdale!) I purchased mine at Costco, and not just any Costco, but a brand new Costco. They had their grand opening this weekend about 2 miles from my house, so nirvana has arrived! I intended to make a blueberry and peach cobbler but when I got home with my tasty blueberries, alas the peaches had gone south, you know – all moldy and watery in the produce drawer – dang it!  So I had to go back to the brand new super nice Costco and get myself a flat of nectarines! Once home with the fresh bounty, I decided instead on a Blueberry-Nectarine Crumble.  Darling Peggy hadn’t tried the chowder I made for her yet, so she came by for lunch and we had leftover Corn, Pepper, and Potato Chowder and this very yummy and warm crumble. We controlled ourselves though and had it sans ice cream. Oh, and we didn’t eat all that you see missing from the pan, the picture just looked better with more dished out of the pan…honestly!!!  Life is good!
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