The Mackinaw Peach

Let's take a break from the disgusting food of yesteryear and talk about something that tastes good. In honor of the arrival of The Chosen One (my new food processor) and in honor of Leah's birthday, I baked a peach pie to take with me to Maryland.

Here are the ingredients for the crust, so nicely put together by The Chosen One. One and a quarter cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a stick of frozen butter, and three tablespoons of ice water.

While the crust was chilling in the refrigerator, I put the peaches into boiling water for about 2 minutes:

Then, I plunged them into ice water to stop the cooking:


This made peeling the skin off very easy:



I used a recipe from my go-to cookbook for all basic recipes, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, for "Fresh Peach Pie:"



1 c. sugar
4 tbsp. flour
4 c. peeled and sliced fresh peaches
1 tbsp. lemon juice (I also used the zest)




Here is the filling in the shell, waiting for the top crust:




Note: I used a slotted spoon to put the peaches into the shell to reduce the amount of liquid in the final pie. My peaches were very juicy, so if you make this, be careful not to put everything into the shell if you have a lot of liquid.



Here's the pie with a lattice top:

I baked this at 425 degrees for ten minutes, then at 350 degrees for another 40-45 minutes, watching to make sure that the crust didn't brown too much.

You'll have to wait to find out if it was good or not until I get down to Maryland and let the birthday girl cut it.

I also made French bread to take with me because I wanted to try my new French bread pan that I got for my birthday (I may have snuck a few cloves of crushed garlic into the dough). Again, I used the recipe for "Crusty French Bread" in the Fannie Farmer cookbook. The ingredients and the process are fairly lengthy, so if you want the whole recipe, just leave a comment. Otherwise, here are some photos:

Finally, I baked a roll of icebox cookies that I had in the freezer and I also made some granola for Father of Ken. Since some people have expressed their interest in the recipe, here it is (roughly):

2 c. oats (I use old fashioned)

3/4 c. sliced almonds

3/4 c. sweetened shredded coconut

1/4-1/3 c. canola oil

1/4 c. honey

Mix everything together in a bowl, taste to make sure that it is sweet enough, sprinkle with a little bit of kosher salt (1/4 tsp. or so), and then spread into a single layer on a baking sheet:

Bake at 350 degrees at 5 minute intervals. Every five minutes, stir the granola and spread into an even layer again. Mine took 15 minutes total today, but some days, it takes 10. Keep an eye on it and take it out when it is golden brown:

Once it is cool, store in an airtight container.

Kenna, all of the food, and I are headed to Maryland this afternoon. This reminds me of when Brother of Ken and I used to go to Kansas City with our Grambi and Papaw in their old Ford Fairmont with a car full of food. We usually got to share the backseat with a ham or a turkey that we took to our relatives in the big city. Those were the days... Maybe I'll pick up a side of beef to take with me on my way out of town.