PASS THE PEACH PIE PLEASE

Organic peaches were on sale at the market and calling out to me as I passed by!  We had company this week - so peach pie was on the menu!

You will need:  8 large ripe peaches peeled and chopped in a large bowl with 1 tsp lemon juice.  Add 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup of  flour and 1/4 cup of cornstarch - mix through.  

Pour into a pie shell bottom and add the lattice top.  Brush with egg yolk and bake at 425 for 30 minutes   Enjoy!

Pie crust recipe:  2 cups sifted flour, cut in 3/4 cup crisco (or lard) using a flour kneader.  Add 5 - 8 Tb ice water to form a nice ball of dough.  Divide dough as 1/2 will be used for the lattice top.  Roll out on floured pastry cloth with a covered and floured rolling pin.  Press into pie shell.  After adding peach mix, cut the lattice strips and weave across the top.  You could use this recipe for other pies.

SUMMER WINDING DOWN for "Tea In The Garden"

On this last Tuesday of August there is a change in the air! 

 Fall is coming....time for some Tea In The Garden.

I've invited a few friends over - hope you don't mind company!  I don't see any hummingbirds this morning.  I think they have begun their long journey to Mexico for the winter.

Pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy a 

few moments of solitude here in the garden!

I thought we could sit here and catch up on

 a stack of magazines that I am behind reading.

Johanna will remember the pillow cover my

 Mother In Law gave me. My Mother In Law had it from her German parents.  She said that the English translation is:

"Save each other from heartache- the time you have together is short. 

Even if you are united by many years - one day they will seem like minutes to you."

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES TRIBUTE

Like many of you, I have always been a great fan of Anne of Green Gables and have loved the characters in L. M. Montgomery's books and the story of a little girl who faced life under difficult circumstances but made the best of it all!  And then - what's not to love about Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert?  I also laugh when I think of the character Rachel Lynn!

If I am baking, I will often put the Anne of Green Gables DVD's on in the background and I also play the CD music in the mornings as I am getting ready for work. 

 Once for an event at my store, I put pudding

 in a crock.  Then I was able to purchase these large gummy rats - yes gummy rats....we had them crawling up the sides of the crock and across a cake.  

My friend Kathilee (who passed away last year) loved Anne of Green Gables and said whenever she was upset about something she put the video's on  in the background "for comfort".  She was also known to belt out "Oh Promise Me" unexpectedly!  She gave me this copy of the book with Anne with the red hair!

SITTING NEAR THE ASPENS FOR "Tea In The Garden"

Hello there friends and welcome

 to "Tea In The Garden"

 I have baked some lovely Peaches and Cream Scones so please have a seat here near the aspens and enjoy! 

I used the same recipe I have used for Strawberry Scones but switched the strawberries in the recipe to a nice fresh chopped peach!  Of course that Clotted Cream on top is the real thing from England!  So pour yourself a cup of my Black Currant tea and enjoy!

I am sharing a couple of my new  "old" rose plates.  One is under the vase and one with the scones on it.  I recently found 12 of these hand painted Lefton plates at a flea market for about $2.00 each. 

I loved staying home yesterday and having extra kitchen time to make a casserole for dinner, a jello salad, scones and a chocolate pie.  If you are a working person, you know what I mean.  Of course, time ran out for all the things I wanted to do.  I so look forward to

retiring one day!

Summer is winding down here in Colorado.   As you can see I have a lot of shade in my front yard - like a forest really!
 
Peaches and Cream Scone Recipe:

You will need: 2 1/4 cups sifted flour, 1 Tb baking powder, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 Tsp salt, 6 Tbs cold, chopped unsalted butter, 1 cup chopped fresh peeled peach, 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover baking sheet with parchment.

1.  Sift all dry ingredients.

2.  Cut in cold butter with two knives or a kneading cutter.

3.  Stir in whipping cream until dough begins to form and add peaches.

4.  Roll out dough about 3/4" thick onto a floured cloth and cut with a medium size 2 1/2" round scone cutter - Bake for about 12-14 minutes.  I got 16 scones out of this!

5.  Serve with lemon curd, clotted cream, devonshire cream or jam!

HAVE A PEACHY WEEK!

COMFORTING CHICKEN AND RICE

There are certain foods that just bring comfort!  Last night's dinner called for comfort food:

You will need:  2 large chicken breasts, 1 medium green pepper,

1 medium onion, 5 large mushrooms, 2/3 cup milk, 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 stick butter, cooked rice, salt and pepper

Here is what I did:

First, I sliced up 2 chicken breasts and sauteed

 them in a large skillet in 1/2 stick of butter.  

Do not drain butter or broth created.

In another skillet saute  in 1/2 stick butter: a medium green chopped pepper, a medium chopped onion and 5 large chopped mushrooms - salt and pepper to taste.

In a bowl, combine 1 can of cream of mushroom soup,  2/3 cup heavy whipping cream and 2/3 cup of milk and mix well.  Add this to the chopped pepper mixture and then pour all this over over the chicken mixture heating well/ stir through!  Salt and pepper again   

Serve over cooked rice.

Will serve 4 people or 2 with leftovers!

Also,  a photo of a fluffy dove on Jemima Puddleduck taken from this morning out the kitchen window:

VINTAGE COTTAGE IN THE KITCHEN

Every week I think to myself that next week I will really have time to spend on my blog.  This is a joke!  Ha, ha, ha!  Let's all laugh together.  I never have more time.  Today I am sharing a few photos:

We will be getting our warmer weather back today after having very cool weather and almost cold at night.  It has rained and rained.  We haven't had anything like this amount of rain for many years.

Those of you who follow my blog already know that this is my kitchen buffet which my husband painted earlier this year during the winter.  The coffee pot and cream and sugar are English Copeland Spode "Dubarry" and the teapot which I have shared before is a Sadler.

GRANDMA BARKER'S VASE for "Tea In The Garden"

Yesterday afternoon I found the cutest vase in a flea market and I especially was touched when I saw the note inside the vase which read "This is from Grandma Barker's things.   I assumed she probably passed and this was from her belongings.

  I thought the vase was very sweet 

with a little bluebird on it. 

This tea time is in honor of Grandma Barker who I never knew but I certainly share her love for sweet things - like her vase!

It looks like the 1940's-1950's.

A little hummingbird was most unhappy to

 find me setting up my table this morning. 

But then again, perhaps he will join

us for tea. 

The recipe for hummingbird food for your feeder is 4 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar - boil 2 minutes which kills bacteria.  I double this and refrigerate until it is all used.  I also add a little red food color.

August in Colorado brings

certain smells and sights

of a forthcoming fall.  I saved

the note which was in the vase.

It makes one think doesn't it?

I still have some wonderful

Queen Anne's Lace to share.

Do you collect English

teapots?  I love the back stamp

names of the manufactures.

Seems like every week just flies by now doesn't it - where is summer going?