Brigham City Peach Pie

Peach pie.  I mean, it sounds good and it looks good . . . but I don't think I ever would have made it if it hadn't been a birthday request.  So I'm glad it was, because it turned out to be a great recipe (I got it from allrecipes, one of my favorite cooking sites).

I made this pie for Troy--he's a great friend and his wife, Brenda, is an even greater friend (sorry, Troy).  He's a pretty generous guy and has made the birthdays in our family special.  So, I told him I'd make him an apple pie on his birthday and he quickly countered, "How 'bout peach?"  

Peach it shall be.  (I used my flakiest pie crust recipe).

Our family before the hour-long wait on a busy Thursday

It seemed fitting that he requested a peach pie only a few days after my family and I visited Brigham City, Utah---peach capital of the state.  We went there to tour the inside of the newly competed Latter-day Saint temple.  Before a temple is dedicated, it is open to the general public, and I highly recommend taking a tour if you ever have the opportunity!  There's no better way to find out what "Mormons" believe and why temples are central to our focus on strengthening families, both now and in the afterlife.  Here's a sweet video clip about part of our temple experience:

But back to the pie.  I think it's the only food on this site that I have not actually tasted myself {update: I had it on Pi Day 2013 and it is delectable}.  Both Troy and Brenda assured me that it was delicious--even better than the pastry that Troy ordered for himself on the Internet for his birthday.  I could have told you that, Troy . . .

Any recipe that calls for you to cut butter into a crumbly stage
is bound to be delicious 

Layer the peaches in the bottom of your pie crust, then generously
layer butter crumblies.  Repeat with remaining peaches and crumblies.

Troy got his bull elk with a BOW the day before his birthday,
so I thought I'd pay homage to his prowess with an antler design . . .

T for "Totally"
I used an egg yolk wash: water and egg yolk
beaten and lightly brushed over the crust

Scrumptious.

Troy took this picture and FBed it to me.

It wouldn't have been a true birthday gift without a poem from yours truly.  I would have printed it out for Troy, but my printer was/is out of ink.  Still, I can share the digital version with my Internet audience.  I think Troy would want it that way.

Aren't limericks the best?  Poo on sonnets and haikus . . . you can't convey this kind of emotion in those rigid forms . . .

Celebration-worthy, people.

I added pecans to my streusel the second go-round and it was
over-the-top good.

National "Pi" day: 3.14 every year.  Circles never looked this tasty . . .

Finally, the actual recipe card:

Oat & Cranberry Muffins

I think maybe the reason I like muffins so much is because they are like cake, but without cake guilt.  My friend, Cori, has been teasing me about my muffin addiction. She claims that she went through a "muffin phase" when she had small children, and thinks that it is something that will pass for me.

I don't think so.

I do so adore muffins. Doesn't the word "muffin" itself make you think of happy times? (With the notable exception of "muffin-top", which is slightly more apt than "spare tire" or "love handles"). Muffins are pretty much the perfect food, and baking muffins is not only relaxing for me, it also makes my house smell like heaven. Plus, I can always hide a couple and save them for midnight forays.  Or freeze a whole bunch and have one or two every morning for a week with my oatmeal.

I realize I am waxing whimsical . . . but that's what delicious home-baked foodstuffs do to me.

{As part of her muffin-heckling, Cori sent me a link to a funny little muffin website called muffinfilms. Truman loves number 8: "Feed Me" the best, while I prefer the slightly macabre number 6: The Muffin Tree.}

If you know me, you know that gifts are my love language.  So when my Aunt Kristie sent me this book out of the blue (about four years ago) it was the most delightful surprise!  I think of her every time I use it and it is one of my all-time favorite gifts.

One of my favorite recipes from the book is my cream and spice muffins--especially on a cold day, they are delicious with hot cocoa.

But I just discovered this healthy gem: oat and cranberry muffins.  The first time I made them, I didn't have any dried cranberries, so I used one cup of my precious frozen huckleberries.  And I used five-grain cereal instead of plain rolled oats.  DELISH.  Even though they are healthy!

Cori may make fun, but she still gave me
my favorite SQUARE muffin pan

The five-grain makes the muffins nice and chewy, but they are still moist and flavorful thanks to the kefir and huckleberries.

I finally bought some dried cranberries, and the muffins turned out beautifully.  They taste great, too.  (TIP: If you have ever wondered how to get a muffin out of its wrapper without leaving half the muffin stuck, just let them cool--then the wrappers peel all the way off).

Before going into the oven

Out of the oven and ready to eat

My favorite way to have any muffin:
buttered and dipped in honey-sweetened Cream O' Wheat