Peach Raspberry Crisp

Dessert is a good thing.

A sweet ending to a wonderful meal. 

When trying to come up with a dessert to take to our picnic at the Hollywood Bowl, I looked to my fellow bloggers for ideas.  When I came across the Peach Raspberry Crisp recipe on Jo-Ann's blog, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, I knew I had found the perfect dessert.  Jo-Ann has a wonderful blog full of fantastic recipes.  Stop by and say to hello to her sometime!

What makes this dessert perfect?  Natural fruit (good for you) in warm spices topped with a crunch crisp topping! YUM! But the best part?  They are baked in MASON JARS! 

How awesome it that?  I can bake them in the jars, and then pop the lids on them and take them along!!!

The result?  A wonderful warm dessert to end our meal....Tasty too! 

Here's a great tip I tried.  I made the crisps the day before and let them cool and stored them in the frig.  On the day of the picnic I put them in the oven on low for about 30 min to bring the temperature up.  I took the warm jars, topped them with the lids, and wrapped them in a little foil.  I even had a hot/cold bag from the grocery store and carried them in this insulated bag.  At the intermission of the show about 2 hours after we arrived, the dessert was still warm. Yeah!  We each had individual servings and used spoons to scoop up the delicious fruit right out of the jar.  All that was missing was the vanilla ice cream.  I need to work on how to avoid melted ice cream in transport for next time!

So here's how I made them.  I adapted the recipe just a little to suit my taste for cinnamon.  You can adjust it to fit your tastes as well!

Peel and slice your peaches.  Place the peaches, Splenda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Stir to combine.

Add the raspberries and stir gently to mix.

Next make the crumb topping.  In a medium bowl combine AP flour, wheat flour, brown sugar, oats, and melted butter.  Stir until well combined and crumbly.

Divide the peaches evenly in each of the jars.  They should be about 3/4 full.  Top each evenly with the crumb topping.

In a preheated oven at 350 degrees, bake for 30 min. until bubbly.  I put the jars in a baking dish to make them easier to handle. 

Look at these colors...

Treat yourself to something very cute....so delicious!

Peach Raspberry Crisp

makes 6 servings - 250ML jars used

4 cups of peaches, sliced (I used 4 large peaches)
1 pint of fresh raspberries
1/3 c Splenda
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/3 c all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup melted butter

Peel and slice your peaches.  Place peaches, Splenda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Mix to combine.  Add raspberries and toss gently. 

In another medium bowl combine AP flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, melted butter.  Stir until all ingredients are coated and your have a crumbly mixture.

In 6 clean 250 ML jars divide your peach mixture evenly.  You will fill about 3/4 of the way up.  Top each peach mixture with the crumb topping, dividing evenly. 

Place jars (no lids please!) in a baking pan and place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Mixture should be soft and bubbly.  Serve warm.  Store any leftovers in the frig by placing the lid on the top!

adapted from:  A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Cucumber, Tomato, & Dill Salad

I love cold summer salads, don't you?


So the other day I told you that MGG and I went to the Hollywood Bowl.  We had a fantastic time!  One of our favorites things to do there was to take a picnic and enjoy our food before the performance.


If you missed my post about the bowl and our menu you can read it here:  Hollywood Bowl & Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

One of the items was a cold salad.  It was the perfect accompaniment to our sandwiches and chicken.  And when MGG is "Mmmnnning" while eating it, I know it's a winner!

This is a very easy salad to throw together.  It only takes a few ingredients and is done in minutes.

So let's make my Cucumber, Tomato, & Dill Salad!

Peel and seed your cucumber.  Chop into cubes.  Seed your tomato.  You don't want the extra juice.  Then go ahead and chop or dice your tomato.  Place both items in a medium bowl.

Next add your yogurt, garlic, dill, and a pinch of salt.

Mix it altogether.  At this point you can chill it and serve it later, or serve immediately.  Be aware that the longer it sits, the yogurt will start to turn a little runny from all the juices going on.  Just drain that off if you like.  It doesn't ruin the flavors of the salad.

Simple and soooo YUMMY!

  

Cucumber, Tomato, & Dill Salad

Adapted from Pillsbury

3 large Roma (plum) tomatoes, seeded, diced (1 1/2 cups)

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and cubed (1 cup)
¼ cup plain yogurt
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried dill weed
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Seed and dice tomatoes.  Peel and cube cucumber.  Place tomatoes and cucumbers in a medium bowl.

Add yogurt, garlic, dill weed, and salt.  Mix all ingredients until evenly coated.

Chill or serve immediately.

Hollywood Bowl & Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

I love the summertime in LA. 

One of the great pleasures is being able to eat alfresco, listening to some great music.  One place to do that is at the Hollywood Bowl.

I LOVE the Hollywood Bowl.  There is nothing better than sitting under the stars in the cool breeze listening to the fantastic orchestra...and eating all the scrumptious food of course!

MGG and I try to go to the Bowl every season.  This year, not so much.  I'm not sure why, just things got in the way.  So when I saw that they were having a concert  playing music from famous movies...well I just snapped up those tickets and off we went!

The concert was really a treat...but we also got another treat from the weather that day!  First there were clouds, and then the crowd was all yelling..."LOOK!  A DOUBLE RAINBOW!".

How beautiful.

Then came the show...and a lightening show off in the distance as well!  What a site...and quite a night.

The great 'HOLLYWOOD' sign...

Remember this movie?

It's amazing how the orchestra plays the music exactly in time to the movie.

A sea of green...

So on to the food!  I decided to take a picnic. 

The menu:

Sandwich Sliders
Fried Chicken Tenders (I used this recipe cutting the chicken in to tenders which are easier to pick up)
Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce (recipe below)
Cucumber, Tomato, and Dill Salad (click to go to the recipe)
Peach Raspberry Crisp (click to go to the recipe)

For the Sandwich Sliders I took dinner rolls to use as my base.  We had two different sliders:   

Turkey, Salami, and Provolone sliders

Ham & Swiss sliders.

See how cute.  They are wrapped in parchment paper and secured with a pretty toothpick to keep them together when traveling.

We also had some great fried chicken tenders. (You can use my Buttermilk Fried Chicken Breasts as your guide.)   So good!  But what took these over the top is the Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce.  WOW!  This was really good.  I found the recipe in a Southern Living magazine and altered it just a bit.  You should really try this sauce.  It has such ZIP!  It's mustardy and spicy at the same time..(the secret is Jalapeno Jelly) ...a must try.  Great with chicken strips, wings, as a spread on a sandwich...endless possibilities!

Try it, you'll like it....and let me know what you think of this sauce.  Enjoy!

Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preparation

Stir together all ingredients until blended.  May be served right away or chilled.

adapted from Southern Living Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce