Peach Pistachio Cobbler and My First Day Home Alone Since June!

Hi folks. Hope your week is going well. I'm sure everyone is trying to settle in to the back to school swing of things. All the little kiddies gone back to school. My advice- avoid Walmart like the plague. Don't get  me wrong I love Walmart like you cannot imagine. But I would not want to go anywhere near the place the first week of school. It's quite likely a zoo. Lots of arguments over what colour backpack to get and complaints about how much binders cost. I am so happy to have mine out of grade/high school. I can avoid the mad rush and ride it out until next week if mine need anything. And let's be honest they're Uni students now so they can go get supplies their dang selves.

Today mini-me had orientation and Bray had a meeting. So the kids headed off to the university together. Hubs is back to work so he was on days. I actually had the house to myself. I think the whole summer I had the house to myself once for a brief spell. So this long awaited peace and quiet was much appreciated. What did I do with that lovely quiet time? Well, I took a nap. Yup, I was all pumped up to get stuff done but that unmade bed was calling my name. The kitten kept running in there so I think he was trying to tell me it was nap time. And who could resist this face:

See, you would have wanted to take a nap too. He's a snuggle bum.

I also spent copious amounts of time doing up our family calendar. During the school year I keep a large calendar up on the fridge with everyone's comings and goings written down so we're all hyper aware who is going where, when and how. With 2 cars for 4 people this is a major neccessity for us. We're hoping by next week to have a third car added to the mix. Which will help tremendously. Even so I find keeping the calendar up there a must. It just helps to keep everyone organized. I have yet to find a calendar that fits or I like so I just make my own. Been doing it for eons. I colour code everything so it's uber organized. No one else is allowed to touch it. Changes are scribbled elsewhere and I make adjustments myself. This helps to avoid conflicts and people trying to cover their tracks if they forget something. Did I tell you I'm anal retentive? If I didn't you now know. It's like a sickness. But a very organized, well structured illness. I'm also a neat freak, not that you could tell from my messy kitchen the other day. I like things a certain way. I redid this calendar a couple times as it was not quite right. Okay, okay, so I redid it 5 times. Is that so wrong? I would do it again as there is one glaring mistake driving me nuts. I tried to go over it but it's now taunting me and driving me mad. I just may have to pull it down and do it again. Or call an ambulance and commit myself immediately. Whatever.

So you see I was productive today. I even played on twitter for a bit. I rarely get to do that during the day. Okay so playing on twitter doesn't actually mean you're productive but if it did I was outstanding today. Stellar work. Good job me. *pats herself on the back*I also made beds, cleaned and played with the pets. Our ragdoll cats are like puppies. They follow you around like lapdogs. I did not do laundry simply as our town has implemented a time of use pricing on our electric bill. So I refuse to do it during high time. I shall do it during the lowest time to save moolah. I think the hydro companies are criminals, seriously it just gets worse and worse. I have no idea how low income families can keep up. We have a small house and last month with all the a/c used our bill was about $500. For one bloody month. I actually think it must be a mistake. Calling next week when I have some time to get them to do a reading and not an estimate. There's no way that can be right. If it is I should just stop cooking, sit in the dark and mope. Although I don't see that happening. Kim....mope...I think not.I also made myself something to eat today. Which is rare for me to eat breakfast or lunch. I was all set to make the kids a big breakfast but mini-me was not feeling overly well this morning and didn't want to look at food before going in. So after my lovely nap I got up and made bacon and sausage. All for me. Okay, not really. I could not eat a pound of bacon and a pound of sausage solo. Well, I probably could but if I did I would never admit it here on the blog. That would make me an oinker. And even if I was, I'm not sure you need to know that, or at the very least you can't prove it. I mean where's your evidence. *pats her belly*

Okay enough of this crazy rambling. I know you came here for this:

I mean who wouldn't? It's just so darn good. I have used this recipe a couple of times now. It's from "The Williams Sonoma Cookbook". This recipe is quite good. I have another I use as well and promise to post that one as well sometime soon. This one here I love the addition of the pistachios to the topping. You all know I love me some pistachios. The topping is top notch even if they were not in there. It's a true winner. But this one does not call for cooking the peaches on the stovetop first before assembling and placing in the oven. My other recipe does do that and I find the peach mixture better with that one. So I think I shall try to combine the two together and find perfection. When you don't cook it ahead on the stovetop the mixture does not thicken enough in my opinion. It stays too runny and doesn't cook up as well. It's still totally delicious but I think that extra step is worth the effort. If you're in a rush this one is fab, if you're not my other one is killer. So there you have it, wisdom from a lunatic. Who woulda thunk it?

Okay so here you go, this recipe is courtesy of "The Williams Sonoma Cookbook". No cinnamon sticks or nutmeg whatever you call them were harmed in the making of this cobbler. Just remember I like mine cinnamony and nutmegy so adjust yours if you are not a huge fan of those spices.

Peach Pistachio Cobbler:


Ingredients:


¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
¾ teaspoon cinnamon (I probably tripled this)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg ( I probably tripled this)
¾ teaspoon salt
8-10 peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced ( I would suggest doubling this, it's not peachy enough)
2 cups flour
½ cup pistachios, shelled and chopped ( I doubled this)
2 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes (I melted mine, then let it cool a bit)
¾ cup whole milk

Directions:


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.


Grease a 2 quart dish.


For the peach filling, in a small bowl combine ½ of the sugar, the cornstarch, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon salt.

Place the peaches in a large bowl and pour the sugar mixture over them. Toss to coat properly.

Pour the peach mixture in your prepared dish. Set aside.

For the topping, use a large bowl and combine the flour, pistachios, the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt, and the baking powder.

Using a pastry blender or fork or even your hands, cut the butter into the mixture. It should look like coarse cornmeal now.

Now add your milk and and mix with a fork only until it comes together. Do not overmix.

Pinch off chunks of the topping and drop over you  peach mixture.

Combine remaining cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Top should be golden and peaches bubbling when done.

Serve with a smile.

Tips- If you're like me and love your cinnamon and/or nutmeg feel free to add extra to each step. I sprinkle it over the peach mixture once it's in dish. I add extra to both the peach mixture and topping. I also sprinkle extra over the top before baking.

As you can see the peach mixture could use more peaches, and could be thicker. But all in all this is a slamming peach cobbler. I make it when I am in a rush. It is so yummy, and I love it right out of the oven. Hope you try this one out. Will let you all know when I do my fave cobbler recipe. It just takes a bit more time to prep but it is omg whole 'nother planet good. I have no idea if that sentence even makes sense but I'm rolling with it.

So I am glad to hopefully be back to blogging on a regular schedule now that the kids are back in school. I know I've been somewhat M.I.A. on the commenting lately. I just wanted to fit in as much time with the kids as I could. Yesterday me and mini-me hit the mall, went to look at puppies and saw a flick. Bray was working. I'm sure I'll fit in some time with him this week before he goes back monday. We need to go car shopping so maybe we'll luck out and make a day of it. So here's hoping them going back to school means the huge list of blog to do's gets done. I need to put a stumble button on the blog, a pin button, I need to add my facebook page on here. I need to start submitting to food porn sites. I have two recipe sites I need to add recipes to. I am so behind.

Hope you are having a fab week.

PHOTOS MISSING DUE TO A G+ INCIDENT. WILL BE REPLACED SOON!

Toodles and smoochies. xx