Peach Raspberry Crumble

It's summer time and that means it's peach season!

I love peaches. Plain, with sugar, in a simple syrup over biscuits or pancakes, in pies.....You get the idea.

When our family got together to celebrate the 4th of July a couple of weeks ago I knew exactly what to bring: Peach Raspberry Crumble.

This is such a good summer dessert. And it's pretty easy! While it says you have to have a food processor, you don't. I've made it before without one. Just chop up the butter into itty bitty pieces and mix it that way. The original recipe calls for plums, but I don't like plums so I swapped them out. I highly recommend it.

The topping is nice and crispy, which compliments the fruit perfectly. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream for the perfect summer dessert.

Original Recipe courtesy of Food Network

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients
2 pounds peaches, cut in 1/2, pitted, and cut in 1-inch wedges
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the sliced peaches, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Add the raspberries and toss lightly. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well.

Spread the topping evenly over the peaches, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Work Fun

Today at work we had some entertaining patient quotes. Thought you'd enjoy.

First patient, a 6 year old girl, frequently makes me laugh because she wants to sing and dance her way through therapy. Hey, whatever gets her to participate.

Today we walked in to our therapy room (which requires walking through the PT gym) behind a guy who had his arm amputated just below the shoulder. This girl has a medical history and has spent some time in the hospital so she has seen all sorts of things, but she was staring this guy down as we walked in (he was walking in front of us). When we got to our room she mentioned that he only had one arm. I brushed it off and responded that he probably had an accident. Left it at that and we moved on. She mentioned it in passing a couple more times, but we didn't discuss it in detail. Until she brought it up again toward the end of her session.

Her: "That man didn't have an arm like he is supposed to."
Me: "You're right, he didn't."
Her: "Do you think he just went to get a drink of water one day and it fell off?"
Me: (trying not to laugh) "No....I think he probably had some kind of accident. Don't worry, your arm can't just fall off. He didn't lose it getting a drink of water."

Lesson? Watch out when you're getting water-you might lose an arm.

Next was a story from one of the nurses working our ortho unit. Someone brought a patient a big yellow smiley face balloon that was sitting in the hall. She walked past a room and the door was open so the patient yelled that she needed help (a lot of our patients don't use their call bells) so she went in the room and the patient said,

"What kind of place are you people running around here? I've been laying here yelling for help, but that man is just standing out there smiling at me instead of helping!"

I just love my job :)

Asheville Night Out

Last night Jon and I went out to dinner with our friend, Davis, in Asheville. We went to a delicious local restaurant called Salsa's. I. Love. Salsa's. It's a Caribbean-Mexican restaurant that uses lots of fresh ingredients and some seriously spicy peppers to make a lot of really fantastic food. Their drinks aren't so bad either.

We started the night with some drinks: Peach margarita for me, beer for Jon, Asheville Lemonade for Davis. The Asheville Lemonade was very Asheville: moonshine and lemonade.

Next came a trio of salsas. We chose Guacamole, Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa, and Pineapple Habenero Salsa. Have you ever cooked with habaneros? I have. Just a heads up, in case you haven't, don't accidentally rub your eyes after you cut them. Ask me how I know.....

Despite the names, the salsas aren't torture. They are deliciously blended with plenty of fruit flavor with just a bit of a kick. We ate it so fast I couldn't take a picture. We liked it.

All that was left by the time my phone made an appearance.

We all got quesadillas for our main course. Jon's had lamb and goat cheese and peppers. Mine was pulled pork, cheese, avocados, and a pineapple chutney. YUM.

It was every bit as good as it looks. x1000

We weren't content to let the night end there. It has rained ever day in July. Asheville got the same amount of rain they average in 1 year within about a week and a half. Yesterday the sun was shining and it was beautiful so we wandered around the corner to Marble Slab and got some ice cream. After that we went to a park in the middle of town and people watched.

We are excited about some ice cream.

If you've never been to Asheville, the people watching is prime. Hippies, businessmen, children, dogs. Sometimes there's even a man in a nun outfit (with a mini skirt) who rides a tall bike through town (we think he's part of a comedy bus tour. Maybe.).

Those are basketball "grapes." "Why?" you ask. Why not? It's Asheville.

The Hipster and The Hippie. A fine example of Asheville folk.

The night was so fun we decided to make it a weekly tradition. Asheville has tons of really good local restaurants. I can't wait to try more of them! Come visit us and we'll take you to one!

Recipe Index Weeks 3 & 4

Not So Boring Chicken Stir Fry

I think between this post and my Weeks 1 & 2 index (there's a link at the bottom so you don't have to go hunting for it), this is most of the Whole30 recipes we used. Hope you try some and enjoy them!

Breakfast:

• Eggs, eggs, and more eggs. With a piece of fruit.

Lunch:

• Leftovers or salads 

Dinners:

• Not So Boring Chicken Stir Fry We really enjoyed this dish-will definitely make it again
• Mediterranean Meatballs (see my blog post for recipe and details)
• Balsamic Mustard Chicken  Really delicious and simple-perfect weeknight meal
• Paleo Pancit  A yummy twist on a traditional pasta dish. 
• Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken 
• Spaghetti squash with homemade meat sauce
• Herb Crusted Pork Loin Not my favorite-I think I definitely picked up the wrong cut of pork. It has potential, though, so I think I'll give it another shot in the future

Here's the Week 1 & 2 Recipe Index for ideas on side dishes and more meals, if you need it . Happy cooking!

Lamb Meatballs

Remember the extra special dish I was going to make to celebrate Jon finishing the first 2 weeks of his South Beach diet? Well, it was a Moroccan lamb dish that we LOVE. Sadly, our local grocery didn't have the right cut of lamb so that was a bust. Then I found a recipe for Greek Meatballs that used lamb so I thought I would make those, but I missed a couple of ingredients when I made my grocery list. Bust #2.

So what do you do when you have some ingredients for one recipe and some for another? Toss some stuff together and hope it works out! Good news-it did. So yummy! Here's the recipe:

Mediterranean Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb ground lamb
1/2 lb ground beef
1/4 c chopped parsley
3 cloves minced garlic
8-10 dried dates, chopped
8 (or so) kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 Tbs Montreal Steak Seasoning (McCormick, or any grill seasoning will do)
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp (pinch) ground cloves

Combine all ingredients. Make sure the spices are mixed evenly throughout the meat. Form into meatballs (mine were 1-2 inches across). Place a cooling rack on a baking dish. Arrange the meatballs on the cooling rack so they can bake all around. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes.

I served them with salad and mashed cauliflower, but I think they would have been even better with a sweet potato dish as a side.

Patrick's Big Weekend

Last weekend Patrick was filled with folly and so he did the following:

First he was a total ham at breakfast...

Gimme that, Mama!

I'm king of the baby world!

Chins

He saw another baby in a high chair across the room and locked on. He is baby intense.

Then he told a bunch of stories...

Then he learned to do this...

And this...

And at some point in all that activity he's gotten a third tooth. He has been one busy boy, and he is very proud of himself!

SYTYCD

Happy Tuesday! Tuesdays have a new level of excitement in our house this summer. Why? Well, I'll tell you.

So You Think You Can Dance.

I love this show. I have the dancing ability of a slug (Don't ask me why a slug-it was the first word that popped into my head. Just keeping it real, people) so I love watching people who are really good at it. And some of the dances tell such stories! I had no idea, until I started watching. Here are two of my favorites from past seasons:

But this season it's even better!! My friend, Tucker is a dancer!! 

It is a totally new experience watching. I can't watch the group dances any more because I'm trying to pick him out and watch what he does. I can't watch it on DVR any more because I don't want to miss his live performance while it's actually live. I vote. 

If you've been looking for a new show to watch, go check it out! If you haven't, go check it out! And vote for Tucker!!!