Slab Peach Pie.

**I am so sorry about the spacing on this recipe! Blogger is not cooperating!**

This is the best pie I have ever made. Ever. Really, this was good. The crust was crisp, had beautiful layers, and the filling wasn't too sweet. Make this.. please, please make this. This recipe come from Martha Stewart's "Baking Handbook".

Fine specimen's.

I could have just eaten this and been a happy camper.

The beauty..

Slab Pie Pate Brisee: (only Martha would call her pie crust pate brisee)

**A couple of notes. I tried making this without the food processor because I like to do things by hand, but it did not turn out nearly as well! And, if you do not use unsalted butter, leave out some of the salt or it will be too salty.

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter

1/2 cup ice water, plus more if needed

Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 seconds.

With machine running, pour the ice water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, until the dough just holds together when squeezed. If needed, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.

Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Form into flattened rectangles. Wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Filling:

7 medium peaches (2 3/4 pounds), cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 8 cups)

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used half and half)

1/4 cup sanding sugar (or granulated sugar)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough to an 18-by-13-inch rectangle. Fit into a 15-by10-inch rimmed baking sheet, pressing into corners (pastry will hang over sides). Chill while assembling the filling.

In a large bowl, combine the fruit, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt. Stir to combine. Spread mixture over the chilled pie shell.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out remaining piece of dough to a 16-by11-inch rectangle; drape over filling. Fold edge of bottom dough over top dough. Pinch edges to seal. Prick the top dough all over with a fork. Brush the entire surface of the pie with the cream, and sprinkle with the sanding sugar.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 40 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let the pie cool until it is just warm to the tough, about 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut in 12 pieces. Slab pie is best eaten the same day it is baked, but it can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered with plastic warp, for up to 2 days.

Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins

Mealtimes have become a little more of a challenge lately, as my 6 month belly and 18 month old twin boys make it hard to get as much done as I'd sometimes like. So as a proactive approach, I have been trying my hand at making and freezing food, particularly breakfast foods. Waffles, pancakes, french toast, and homemade muffins now regularly make their way into the morning lineup all because the prep, cooking, and clean-up have already been done!

These muffins are actually from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook and were a hit not only with the boys but with Jer, too! So moist and extremely sweet from the banana and carrot purees! I sprinkled mine with old fashioned oats and ground flax seed, as well, for just a little extra nutritional boost.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 natural peanut butter (I used almond butter because it has a higher fat content)
1/2 cup carrot or cauliflower puree
1 large egg white
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Old fashion oats and ground flax seed (optional for topping)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray or line with baking cups. In a large mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the brown sugar with the peanut butter, the vegetable and the banana purees, and the egg white, using a wooden spoon. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add to the bowl with the peanut butter and stir just to combine (the batter will be a little lumpy-do not over mix). Add the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar and stir once or twice. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, 15-20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack to cool. Store in an airtight containerat room temperature for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to 1 month.

Rosemary Focaccia

I first made this bread when we were living in Hawaii and having some friends over for dinner that eat no animal products at all. This paired with spaghetti and vegan brownies (I will not be sharing that recipe...) was quite a hit!

This recipe calls for a starter made the day before you plan to bake the bread and a bread stone (although I have made it without a bread stone with great success).

INGREDIENTS:

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup warm water

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, snipped

1 tablespoon olive oil

Coarse salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. For the sponge, in a bowl combine 1/2 cup of the flour, the 1/2 cup warm water, and the yeast. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand overnight at room temperature to ferment.

2. Gradually stir in the 1 cup warm water, the 2 teaspoons salt, rosemary, and just enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes total). Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour).

3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured baking sheet. Place an extra large bowl upside down over the dough to cover it; let rest 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven and a bread stone to 475 (or you can use and unheated, greased baking sheet). Shape dough on the baking sheet into a circle about 11 inches in diameter by pulling and pressing with your fingertips. (Don't stretch dough too roughly or it will deflate; you want to keep air bubbles intact.)

4. Make 1/2-inch-deep indentations every 2 inches in dough. Brush dough with olive oil; sprinkle with coarse salt. Carefully slide focaccia from floured baking sheet to the preheated bread stone.

5. Bake fro 15 to 20 minutes or until golden, checking after 8 minutes and popping any large air bubbles with a sharp knife. Remove focaccia from bread stone with large spatulas. Cool on a wire rack about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Blueberry Buckle

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries
TOPPING:
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into greased 9-in. square baking pan.
2. For topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over blueberry mixture. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Pistachio-rasberry tea cakes

I made these delightful teacakes, turned cupcakes with the addition of the butter cream recipe Sarah posted, for a sweet little girls second birthday. I would say not to add the butter cream to these, but I simply had to -it was a birthday after all! This recipe comes from, who else, Martha. I love Martha.

This lovely photo was taken by my soon to be neighbor, Brittany. The mama to the sweet little two year old girl.

INGREDIENTS:

15 standard or 36 mini tea cakes

Cooking spray

1c. unsalted shelled pistachios (I used salted and omitted the 1t. salt)

1 1/2c. sugar

1t. salt

1/2c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces (again, I used salted butter and omitted the 1t. salt)

2t. pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1c. flour

1 to 2 containers (6oz each) fresh raspberries

1/4c. slivered or chopped pistachios for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line standard or mini muffin tins with paper liners and coat liners with cooking spray. In a food processor, finely grind shelled pistachios with the sugar and salt. Add butter, vanilla, and eggs: process until smooth. Add flour; pulse until just moistened and combined; do not over mix.

2. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Drop raspberries into batter (4-6 per standard cupcake; 2 per mini) and sprinkle with slivered pistachios. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown, about 28 minutes (mine took nearly 40 minutes!) for standard tea cakes, 14 minutes for mini tea cakes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Tea cakes can be stored for up to 2 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Mimi's Even Better Buttercream

All the decadence of a traditional buttercream but without the dryness. A dream to whip up! You'll never want to frost another cake with the store bought frosting again!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp. vanilla
8 cups SIFTED powdered sugar (measure cups after they've been sifted)
4 tbsp. milk

DIRECTIONS:
Cream together butter, shortening and vanilla taking care to scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. On medium speed, add powdered sugar, one cup at a time until completely incorporated. Frosting will be dry. Add milk and whip until combined. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Piping tip used to frost cupcakes: 1M