August 14, 2007

Baking with The Boy

Guess what? It's peach season again!

The church in our neighborhood holds an annual Peach Festival. We've never attended because, frankly, church people can be scary we are homebodies. Saturday morning as I sipped coffee on the porch, I could hear the strains of musical entertainment waft through our suburban neighborhood. It was the festival! I started thinking about peaches and couldn't stop.

My mother periodically shares with me her copies of Cook's Illustrated magazine. I adore that magazine. Not only does it offer tantalizing recipes, but in the process of crafting the recipes, the writers document the methods they tried that didn't work and why they didn't work. The most recent issue contains an article entitled "Improving Peach Crumble."

Peach Crumble? I'd never made it before, had never even heard of it. Yet the thought of delicious warm Peach Crumble topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream haunted me throughout the day. After dinner, I could no longer restrain myself. A late evening trip to the grocery yielded a sack of ripe peaches and a carton of vanilla ice cream. "Peach Crumble, you will be mine!" I chuckled madly as I drove home.

Often the joy of preparing a dish is equal to the joy of eating it. Such was the case with our Improved Peach Crumble. The Boy, no slouch in the kitchen, joined me in this culinary endeavor. The sheer delight of working with him lightened my heart and brought a silly smile to my face. Soon the house was filled with rich scents as the topping baked while the peaches macerated. The finished creation exceeded my expectations.

Tomorrow we'll celebrate The Boy's 22nd birthday. Sunday he'll be leaving on a jet plane and we don't know when he'll be back again. Instead of getting all maudlin, however, I will choose to focus on the sweetness of the times we do have together. And just like peach season, I know he'll be back.


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12 comments:

Syd said...

Cook's Illustrated is my favorite magazine. Your dish looks fabulous.

Cooking together is such a special way to share time with family. Kudos to you for that.

Gina said...

Looks good!

Mr. P and I bake and cook together all the time, and we love doing it.

Middle Girl said...

ooooh, I want some!

Ok, enough about me. Happy, happy 22nd to The Boy. Wishing him a safe journey.

The crumble looks mah-ve-lush!Yum.

weese said...

Happy Birthday Boy!
old man.

Val said...

Happy birthday to the young man and despite me not being a big warm peach eater, that does look very enticing!
Glad it turned out so well and you got to share it with him.

Zenobia46 said...

Hello,
I am RC and this is my first time commenting. Enjoyed your entry and hope you don't mind if I stop by and comment from time to time.

Lee said...

that sounds great...maybe with some coffee and bourbon instead of the ice cream though, just my opinion, LOL...glad you had such good help

KellyNerd said...

damn girl, I can smell the peaches.

Melodee said...

First, yes, church people are scary.

Second, now I must have peach crumble.

SassyFemme said...

Oh that looks so, so yummy!

Kitchens definitely have a way of making many happy memories with our kids.

Happy Birthday to your son!

tiff said...

Whoa- yum. Recipe please?

Unknown said...

22 years old! wow. how's the boy doing? still into theater?

baking...I can bake brownies, that is about all. brownies and cakes and cupcakes...cooking, that is another story and saga altogether. Definitely good that great! In practice, though!