Rustic Apricot Peach Tart

The CSA bounty this summer included plenty of delicious fresh apricots:

I hadn't had anything but dried apricots for a long time, and really enjoyed the fresh fruit in hand, but when faced with a pint basket full that wouldn't last, I did what any reasonable baker would do and whipped up a crust:

Because I was making a free-form rustic tart, I cracked an egg yolk into a measuring cup and added water to come to about a 1/4 cup instead of just using cold water. The egg makes for a much sturdier crust:

After the dough chilled I rolled in out between sheets of waxed paper to keep my counter clean:

I then spread the crust with a mix of sweetened cream cheese and started topping it with chopped nuts and my apricots:

I added the peaches on top and glazed the result with a bit of warmed jam for shine:

And it baked into something almost like a fruit pizza:
This recipe was based on this one, but I used the homemade crust above, pecans, and added a few chunks of peach.

Mint Brownies (or Brrrrrrrrrownies, if you prefer)

These may look like regular brownies...

But inside they are filled with chopped bits of minty dark chocolates:
See, I still bake when it's pretty hot out, and sometimes you want to bring something to friends that will be refreshing and chocolate-y, instead of heavy and overly rich. These are made from a recipe in Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home To Yours," a favorite among my baking volumes.

Your first step, as always, is to melt chocolate and butter. I like this recipe a lot because once that is done, you mix in sugar:
and then eggs, salt and flour, and your candy bits (the recipe actually calls for york peppermint patties, but I found the trader joe's chocolates above quite delicious and refreshing).

Less than half an hour later in a foil lined pan (easy cleaning!)...you're done!

Oatmeal-Molasses Bread

I've tried a lot of different oatmeal breads, but I am always up for another. Oatmeal bread is one that I've found to be a consistent - and tasty - loaf for sandwiches:

This one has a good dose of molasses and butter to flavor the oats:

The first step, however, does not look nearly as tasty. After letting oatmeal, molasses and butter steep in hot water, yeast is added and the mixture sits for a few more minutes:

After the mixture is nice and bubbly, flour and salt are added:

And stirred into a slightly sticky dough:

I did have to add more flour in the kneading process to get the dough to the right consistency:

But it rose beautifully!

I then split the dough into pieces and rolled them:

Into two loaves:

And here are the loaves ready to be baked - I topped them with a few sprinkles of raw oats as a quick finishing touch:

Blueberry Pie

Blueberry pie is one of my favorites, and certainly my favorite berry pie:

With this one, I used a mix of butter and shortening for a tasty and flaky crust:

And once the crust was chilled, used my favorite trick to keep my butcher block clean - waxed paper:

I added lemon zest and juice to these sweet summer berries, as well as sugar, to provide a bit of tartness:

Here is the pie when it was almost done - I had to add a ring of foil to keep the edges of the crust from getting too dark:

Oh, and this? We always called these roly-polys (how we spelled, that, I'm not entirely sure). It is a bit of extra pie crust sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar and butter, baked alongside the pie for 10 or so minutes. Just try it. Yum:

Bread I Like: Crumbs Bakeshop

I first went to Crumb's bakeshop when they had but one outpost on the upper west side. I had heard of the great variety:

But I can't really capture it in even two pictures:
And they come out with more flavors all the time!

Mom was visiting recently, and we selected an Elvis cupcake and a Pistachio cupcake:

and did I mention they're filled? mmmmm...

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Oreos. Yum:
I hardly ever purchase a package of Oreos, but as you can see, these cookies had a purpose - they were the crust for my latest cheesecake creation!

The recipe is from "Martha Stewart's Cupcakes," a new addition to my bookshelf full of cookbooks. The recipe is a fairly straightforward cheesecake - here, I've blended softened cream cheese, sour cream and sugar:

To this mixture, a few more chopped cookies:

And then the cupcake tins are filled:

The trouble with these cupcakes is that you have to wait for them to cool, and then chill them for a few hours before taking a big bite:

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

I woke up on a weekend morning with some CSA blueberries in my fridge, and a desire to make something a little different - I decided on these blueberry cornmeal muffins:

The recipe pairs a little crunch of cornmeal with sweet berries - perfect for midsummer:

As with all quickbreads, this came together quickly - mix wet and dry ingredients, throw in berries...

scoop into muffin tins lined with papers...

and twenty minutes or so later, fresh breakfast!

Food Fail: The Seymour Milkshake

I'm lactose intolerant, not that that generally stops me and a few lactaid pills from consuming whatever dairy products I please. There is a vegan fast food place in my neighborhood, though, which means I have no need for lactaid when I have a yen for a delicious, delicious milkshake: Foodswings.

Some of the food is kind of suspect, but the milkshakes are usually excellent. Last time I visited it seemed...chunky. I walked home and opened the lid, expecting to find an exceptionally frozen chunk of vegan pistachio ice cream with maybe a large piece of oreo and frozen peanut butter. What I found was...a malfunctioning blender? I have no idea:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I still hate zucchini, so I shredded some more to add to a new recipe - cookies!

I had read about this recipe a few years ago when my mother bought me a copy of "Animal Vegetable Miracle." The recipe is similar to your average chocolate chip cookie, though it uses a bit of honey instead of all sugar, which makes it a bit easier to cream:

And, of course, you add a bunch of grated zucchini to the mix once your flour is incorporated:

After adding a good dose of chocolate chips and scooping them onto cookie sheets:

They baked into soft, cake-like (healthy!) cookies:

Anadama Bread

I used to really love the Anadama Bread we'd have once in a while from a local bread shop when I was little, so when saw a recipe, I decided it was destined to be in my lunchbox:

For a lovely looking loaf, this bread gets a fairly disgusting start. Here is a sponge of cornmeal soaked in water overnight mixed with a bit of flour and yeast:

Once that ferments (you can see that it is a bit more bubbly in the background) more flour, molasses and some salt are added:

And the mess eventually comes together and is kneaded into a smooth dough:

After the first rise:

Once the dough is shaped and rises once more, a quick dusting of cornmeal is added before sliding the loaf into the oven: