You know you are getting old, when you start reminiscing about your childhood as the Good O'l Days.
Remember that Andy Dwyer quote from The Office. "I wish there was a way to know you are in the good o'l days before you've actually left them." Lately I've been thinking about my childhood and I'm starting to sound like my parents. "In my day, we walked five miles to school in our galoshes." "In my day, the movies costs 5 cents." Well, I'm not quite there yet, but I'm starting to sound pretty old. I was recently a part of a bridal party and my heart absolutely sank when these girls questioned my song selection of Wannabe by the Spice Girls. But really, things have changed. In my day, we had to insert blank VHS tapes and program them to record the Parent Trap (Lindsay Lohan version..what else) when it was playing on Disney Channel. In my day, you had to sign your name on the back of a library card in the book when you checked it out. In my day, you had to clear it by your parents to log onto the internet because it would block out their phone line. I even spent three years of college without owning a smartphone. That means I paid for each text message for a considerably large amount of time.
Now, I'm only 25, so I have a long road ahead and trust me I understand that, but I feel like I'm finally hitting that stage in life where you really look back at things. A lot of my reminiscing involves food. My mom, bless her because she is a fantastic cook, would often times bust out some frozen buffalo chicken tenders on a weeknight with Kens blue cheese dressing. I did some pretty intense gymnastics in my young age and my small brain would dream of those chicken tenders on a Tuesday night when practice got out at 6:30. I remember sitting, coated in chalk, at our kitchen table, eating half of my body weight in Tyson artificially flavored meat products. Oh to have a young metabolism again. To hype up my mom's more sophisticated side, she made some banging stuffed artichokes that ironically, satisfied my third grader mind. The idea of skinning each leaf with my teeth was fun combined with the added fear that if I got too close to the "choke" I would literally choke on the poisonous substance and shortly die. Fear and eating is always fun.
My favorite childhood food memory is picking my own blueberries. My good o'l days rant continued in my mind when I went picking several weeks ago. First of all, we arrived at the orchard and it was a challenge to actually find the "pick your own" area. Instead bushels of pre-picked berries were scattered in stands across the parking lot. Once I finally found the pick your own area, I was faced with the challenge of paying $5 for a box the size of a match box or a pay $20 for a five gallon vat. What happened to pay per pound? I miss the day of wearing a plastic pail around my neck and dispensing my collection at the cash register. Now, I was forced to be economical and stay out in the fields for roughly 3 hours ensuring I filled up my bin to get my money's worth.
But I can't complain with what I was left with. The perfect amount of blueberries to snack on, to make buckles with, and to make my favorite, blueberry cobbler. We happened to also have four ripe peaches on hand which made for the best late summer addition. This recipe utilizes brown butter which is my absolute favorite thing to experiment with. Every time I make something with it, I always get favorable comments. Plus it makes things more decadent using the same about of required butter. Win win for me. This recipe was inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction.
Now, I'm only 25, so I have a long road ahead and trust me I understand that, but I feel like I'm finally hitting that stage in life where you really look back at things. A lot of my reminiscing involves food. My mom, bless her because she is a fantastic cook, would often times bust out some frozen buffalo chicken tenders on a weeknight with Kens blue cheese dressing. I did some pretty intense gymnastics in my young age and my small brain would dream of those chicken tenders on a Tuesday night when practice got out at 6:30. I remember sitting, coated in chalk, at our kitchen table, eating half of my body weight in Tyson artificially flavored meat products. Oh to have a young metabolism again. To hype up my mom's more sophisticated side, she made some banging stuffed artichokes that ironically, satisfied my third grader mind. The idea of skinning each leaf with my teeth was fun combined with the added fear that if I got too close to the "choke" I would literally choke on the poisonous substance and shortly die. Fear and eating is always fun.
My favorite childhood food memory is picking my own blueberries. My good o'l days rant continued in my mind when I went picking several weeks ago. First of all, we arrived at the orchard and it was a challenge to actually find the "pick your own" area. Instead bushels of pre-picked berries were scattered in stands across the parking lot. Once I finally found the pick your own area, I was faced with the challenge of paying $5 for a box the size of a match box or a pay $20 for a five gallon vat. What happened to pay per pound? I miss the day of wearing a plastic pail around my neck and dispensing my collection at the cash register. Now, I was forced to be economical and stay out in the fields for roughly 3 hours ensuring I filled up my bin to get my money's worth.
But I can't complain with what I was left with. The perfect amount of blueberries to snack on, to make buckles with, and to make my favorite, blueberry cobbler. We happened to also have four ripe peaches on hand which made for the best late summer addition. This recipe utilizes brown butter which is my absolute favorite thing to experiment with. Every time I make something with it, I always get favorable comments. Plus it makes things more decadent using the same about of required butter. Win win for me. This recipe was inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction.
Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 old fashioned rolled oats.
Filling:
4 ripe nectarines or peaches diced
1 cup blueberries
1/4 granulated sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 old fashioned rolled oats.
Filling:
4 ripe nectarines or peaches diced
1 cup blueberries
1/4 granulated sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
To make the brown butter, melt butter in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until the full stick melts. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Continue to stir. After about 5 minutes, the butter will begin to turn brown and little specks will form at the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and pour butter mixture into tupperware or a glass pyrex measuring cup. Cover tightly and place in the freezer for roughly 45 minutes, until butter solidifies. While the butter is chilling, whisk together the remaining ingredients for the streusel in a medium bowl, set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-10 inch baking dish. Mix all of the filling ingredients in a medium bowl, and pour into the baking dish. Remove the butter from the freezer and scrape into the streusel mixture. Use a fork to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture. The topping is ready when it resembles a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the fruit mixture. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown on the top.
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