Peach Glace Pie

I don't do pie every often, especially fruit pie, but this one is heaven! It is a fresh fruit pie, which is so light and summery. I love the peach, but have also made it with strawberries and raspberries. They are all so wonderfully delicious. Pair this with some homemade ice cream and nothing screams summer louder. Pure heaven!

Fresh Fruit Glace Pie
(adapted from Betty Crocker's cookbook)

One pie crust, cooked and cooled
5-6 cups fresh fruit
1 cup sugar
3 T corn starch
1/2 cup water
1/2 t vanilla
3 oz. cream cheese, softened

Puree enough fruit to make one cup. Mix sugar and corn starch in a sauce pan and slowly add water and pureed fruit. Cook over medium, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for one minute, add vanilla and then cool.
Beat cream cheese until smooth (I add just a spoonful of the warm fruit puree to make the cream cheese more spreadable). Spread on the bottom of the pie crust. This can be tricky, just go slow and don't worry if it breaks a little, no one will see the bottom of your pie. Now fill the pie with the rest of the fresh fruit. Pour the cooked fruit puree over the top. Refrigerate for 3 hour or until set.

Taco Salad

This has been a usual in my house since I was little. Although it is always deemed a summer only dish. It is quick and easy and totally an "I want seconds" kind of meal.

Taco Salad

1/2 pound ground beef or turkey breast
1 can pinto beans, drained
salsa
lettuce
tomato
avocado
cucumber
cheddar cheese, shredded
tortilla chips, crushed
Catalina dressing

Brown meat and add beans. Mix in your favorite salsa to taste. Mix up your veggies, the ones I listed are a must have but you can use anything you like. We usually just grab whatever we have in our garden. Put beans and meat mixture in the bottom of individual bowls. Top with salad, cheese, and crushed tortilla chips. Add Catalina dressing to taste. The dressing is the key in this salad, it gives it the right flavor.

Creamy Dreamy Fudge

We just got back from a little trip to Mackinaw Island and one of the main attractions is their fudge. We spent a small fortune on it while we were there and came home wanting more. They actually call the tourists "fudgies" on the island because so much is consumed. My son could talk about nothing else and even said on one occasion "I am starving of fudge". So when we got home we had to indulge one more time and make our own. We could make about 30 batches for the same amount of money that we spent on about 1 pounds. This is our favorite recipe EVER thanks to my BFF Abby. It stays so smooth and creamy. We added toasted coconut and pecans and it is pure heaven, better, I dare to say, than Mackinaw Island.

Fudge

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 sticks butter
4 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt
1 package of Ghiradelli's semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts of your choice

Before you start cooking, put a bowl of ice water next to you. Put the first four ingredients into a large pot; cook and stir constantly on medium-high heat until it starts to boil. Turn the heat down to medium, and continue to stir and stir and stir. You want the mixture to reach the "soft ball" stage, which is where you drop a spoonful into that bowl of ice water and if the mixture holds together in a soft ball, then you're ready to move on. However, if it dissolves quickly then you've got to keep stirring. Once it is boiling, I think we continued to stir for about 6-8 minutes. Once it is at the soft ball stage remove from the heat and add chocolate chips and marshmallow cream. Mix until all is melted and combined. Last add vanilla and nuts and mix well. Pour fudge into a buttered 9x13 pan. Let it cool for a few minutes and then cover with plastic wrap until completely cooled. Cut it with a plastic knife, for some reason it works the best.

Tropical Salsa

OK, so I used to think there could never be anything better than hot fudge on ice cream until my sister-in-law introduced me to this recipe. It totally doesn't replace hot fudge mind you, but it makes the perfect summer dessert. We LOVE it on good vanilla ice cream, but I am quite certain it would be great on many other things, heck I even eat it by the spoonful. Hey, it's fruit, healthy right?!

Tropical Salsa

1 1/2 cups peeled and diced peaches
1 1/2 cups diced strawberries
2 T sugar
1 T chopped crystallized ginger
1 t grated lime rind

Mix all together and garnish with fresh mint. If your peaches are really ripe, try slicing them and sticking them in the freezer for a while before chopping them, that way you won't end up with peach puree.

Margherita Pizza

This is a definite all time favorite of ours. I love this pizza in the summer because it is so fresh and light. This pizza is the main reason we grow Basil in our garden. So, if you live close to me come over and pick some fresh basil and make this tonight, you will not be disappointed.

Margherita Pizza
Pizza Dough

Starter

1 cup bread flour
1/2 T yeast
1 cup warm water
1 T sugar or honey

Mix all the ingredients together and let them sit for at least 3 hours, then add...

3 Cups bread flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 T yeast
2 egg whites
2 T olive oil
2 t salt

Toppings

olive oil
garlic
mozzarella cheese
fresh tomatoes, sliced
fresh basil, sliced

Mix the dough for 7 minutes in a kitchen aid or Bosch, if you do it by hand, I don't know what to tell you, just knead away. The dough should be like soft play dough but not sticky, so adjust flour accordingly. Split the dough in half and let it rise on a floured surface, covered, for an hour or so. Each dough ball will make a large 8 slice pizza. If you want to make smaller pizzas divide the dough into smaller pieces. The crust turns out the best the less you handle it so instead of punching it down I just grab an edge with both hands and let the weight of the dough do the stretching. I slowly move my hands around the outside until it is the size I want it. Don't give into the temptation to roll the dough, this will make your dough more tough and it will shrink when you cook it. It doesn't need to be perfectly round because when you place it on your pan you can shape it. After your dough is on the pan, brush it with olive oil and spread minced garlic on it (I use about a tablespoon of garlic). Cook it just like this in a 500 degree oven until it no longer sticks to the pan but is NOT browned (about 3-5 minutes). Take it out of the oven and add mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato, and fresh basil. Continue cooking it for 8-10 more minutes until the crust is lightly browned and the cheese is melted.

Dutch Oven Cooking

We went camping last week with some great friends of ours so I had to try my hand at a little Dutch Oven cooking. I totally loved it! There is something so cool about being out of doors and having great food. Especially since it was a little cold and rainy. I tried a few different recipes but this was my favorite. I am excited to try again in our backyard as there are tons of amazing sounding recipes, but for now here is the winner of the first round. I am also including a neat little chart that shows how many coals to use for certain temperatures.

Au Gratin Ham and Potatoes

4 T butter
1 onion
3 T flour
2 cups milk
seasoning salt
pepper
1-1/2 cups cooked ham, diced
3 cups potatoes, diced (I used red)
1/2 c grated cheddar
1/4-1/2 c bread crumbs

Preheat dutch oven to 325. Melt butter and saute onion until translucent. Blend in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Add pepper and seasoning salt. Mix in ham and potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle cheese and bread crumbs on top. Cover and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Coal chart for Dutch Oven

Temperature	10" Oven		12" Oven		14" Oven
Degrees F	Top	Bottom	Top	Bottom	Top	Bottom
300	12	5	14	7	15	9
325	13	6	15	7	17	9
350	14	6	16	8	18	10
375	15	6	17	9	19	11

Blueberry Muffins

Summer means blueberries in Michigan and although I don't totally love the little things alone, blueberry muffins are heaven! This is a great recipe too! I found it at Allrecipes.com but of course altered it a little.

Blueberries Muffins

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
3/4 cup milk
3 cups fresh blueberries

Crumb Topping

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks
3 t cinnamon
*mix all together with a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly

Preheat oven to 400. mix dry ingredients, then add the wet. Fold in blueberries last. Grease or line muffin pan. Fill the cups right to the top and generously sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. This makes 24 muffins.