SUMMER FRUIT CRISP

I think my met favorite part about summer.. other than sunshine, the salty ocean, iced tea, iced cold cocktails... think I'm getting distracted a little here? Fresh fruit! Georgia peaches and fresh strawberries... I want to eat them on everything.

So, this weekend I decided to slice up a bunch of these beauties and bake them in a crisp!

A crisp is sort of like a crumble or a cobbler.. with an oat topping. The oats are whipped with brown sugar and butter, and spread over top the sugar-covered fruit. Then it gets nice a crunchy and crumbly, almost like a soft brown-sugar granola on top.

So many delicious adjectives to use here.

It is so easy and quick. Once you have your fruit sliced, you squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on top, and toss your fruit with sugar. You then whip your butter and brown sugar until fluffy, add your oats, and spread the topping evenly over your fruit.

I topped mine with a sprinkle of extra brown sugar and cinnamon.

You put it in the oven... and it comes out bubbly and crumbly, the perfect summer dessert!

.......Best paired with heaping amounts of vanilla ice cream.

Not pictured ......... Seconds, and thirds.

This will be perfect for Fourth of July weekend! 

Can we also take a quick second to admire how much fun my new centerpiece is? It brightens up the room so much. It makes me want to put fresh flowers in every room!

Many more summer meals to be had here. Hope you are all having a great week!

XO

Full Recipe

For the fruit

1 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbs corn startch

1 lb peaches (2 - 3 big peaches) peeled & sliced

1/2 lb strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup white sugar

For the topping:

6 tbs butter, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup old fashion oats

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine lemon juice, vanilla extract, fruit, and sugar. Mix lightly with wooden spoon until well combined. Pour into 9" baking dish.

2. Beat your softened butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in flour, salt, and oats with spoon. 

3. Using your hands, crumble the oat mixture evenly over the top of your fruit. Sprinkle additional brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon on top.

4. Bake for 45 minutes until browned and bubbly, let cool for 15 minutes to avoid it being soupy.

5. Eat with vanilla ice cream!

Eight Hundred Grapes - Laura Dave

"You have to grow eight hundred grapes to make one bottle of wine... If that isn't argument enough to finish the bottle, I don't know what is.

I FINALLY finished my latest read… When did making time for ourselves become so hard?

 I mean it has nothing to do with how badly I want to read a book or not, or how great I think the book is. I can not sit still long enough to feel relaxed enough to read.

Which is wigging me out because I absolutely love it more than anything.

Okay, maybe not more than this guy..

That face.

But really though, I am such a book-worm-novel-lover. I can’t believe how hard it has been for me to make the time to sit down and read. Not even just literal time.. but, brain time.

You feel me?

Anyway, it’s something I am seriously working on! More me time… noted.

Side Note: One of my close friends read this book with me. We rolled out of bed Saturday morning and met for coffee bright and early, and talked about this book for three. hours.

Okay okay we didn’t only talk about the book.. there was a lot of life talk too. But, I am telling you, what serious food for the soul that is. Just to talk, with an old friend, and sip  my favorite coffee. So good for the heart. And reading the same book together is so fun. Old ladies, the stuff we do for fun these days.

Best part? It forces you to finish your book by a certain date, so your friend can hold you accountable.

I need that J 

Also, thank goodness for great girlfriends, right? What would we do without them?

Anyway.. Back to this book.

My friend Emily and I kept texting each other about what we thought at random times during the night or during our lunch breaks. I love a book that you can relate to on such a level, it makes you think about your own life.

The protagonist is a 20-something girl named Georgia Ford. She is an attorney, and her parents own a killer winery outside of San Francisco, which she has sort of left behind for the hustle and bustle life of LA. She met the love of her life and is engaged to be married. But three weeks before the wedding, she is at her final dress fitting and looks up and out the window.. to find her fiancé, Ben, standing with a popular actress, and a little girl. Georgia runs out, still in her dress, to ask Ben what he is doing, and hears the little girl call him Dad.

Georgia storms out of her fitting and drives straight home to the winery, desperate for her family, nestled in the wine country of Sonoma. But she is shocked by the state her family is in when she gets there. Her two brothers are at odds due to an affair involving one of their wife’s, and her parent’s marriage is in trouble. Worst of all, her dad is selling the beloved family winery.

All of a sudden Georgia opens her eyes, and the life as she knew it is crumbling. Everything she has known to be true is being ripped out from under her. Does she stay with Ben, and forgive this monumental secret he has kept from her, and move forward with their upcoming wedding?

She has to wrestle with her parents who are the most in-love couple she knows, divorcing and moving onto their own lives. But most importantly, the winery. The only home she has ever known, being sold to corporate windery owners that are against everything the Ford family believes in.

Georgia is a strong-willed girl who knows what she wants. She knows deep down that Ben has wronged her.. he lied, and she isn’t sure how to forgive him. It isn’t just the lie though, it’s the gorgeous, perfect, intimidating woman who she will now have to share her fiancé with for (a minimum of) 18 years. How can she try to measure up to that every day? The mother of his child?

Eight Hundred Grapes pushes you to think about your limits. What are your boundaries? What are your deal breakers? Hard no’s, red lines, we all have them. We may not understand them until we are forced to.

Georgia is forced to face hers head on.

This novel taught me about the importance of integrity, what commitment really means, and what it takes in life to truly jeopardize that. Laura Dave brings to light the tangled web of reality that comes with family, and what you do to stick together in the face of adversity. Eight Hundred Grapes evokes the power, the questions, the heartbreak, and the struggles that can come with love, and that even when you think you have it all figured out; life can turn you upside down, and you will end up right where you should be. And right where you land, where you end up, is always where you least expect to be.

Pick up this book for your next summer read, you will not regret it!

What am I onto next? Emily Giffin's newest First Comes Love which is released TODAY! I have been waiting for this for months, more on this soon.....

XO

LASAGNA ROLL UPS

Who doesn't love lasagna? Whether you love it with ground beef, Italian sausage, meatless- veggies, cheese.. so many options!

I discovered a new lasagna style.. and it's pretty awesome. It makes for the perfect even layers everytime, and you get great serving sizes. #winwin

Best part? It's easier than lasagna the original way. Are you sold yet?

You take the cooked lasagna noodles. lather them with the meaty, cheesy (or you favorite) layers, and roll them up! Lay them in the pan, top with cheese on cheese on cheese.. bake, and voila! It's messy, but I'm telling you, all the best dishes are.

Mess = tasty.

I made my own meat sauce, and I will share that recipe soon. It's a good one :) However, store-bought jarred red sauce is good too, you just have to buy a quality brand. Splurge a little, you'll be happy you did!

You can add ground beef or sausage to it, or just use the meatless marinara. Again, so many options, all are fabulous.

Prep/boil your noodles and lay them out flat. Be careful, they are very fragile once al dente.

Just like any standard lasagna, you're going to make you ricotta cheese mixture to create a cheesy paste for the noodles and lather it on each one.

Add a layer of your sauce, mine was a meat sauce. Top with shredded Mozzarella.

Roll each one up, individually..

Those layers.. just like in a regular lasagna!

Lay each of them in the pan rolled up, and top with your remaining sauce and shredded chesee.

Bake for 35 minutes...

I paired mine with a salad and garlic bread! It was so good, and heats up well for lunch the next day (or 3).

Happy Friday Eve! We are almost there :)

XO

Full Recipe

1 lb ground beef

1 jar marinara sauce

10 uncooked lasagna noodles

15 oz container of Ricotta

1 egg

2 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup Romano cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prep your meat sauce, I browned my ground beef with onions, garlic, and added crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, etc. to create my own meatsauce. If you cannot create your own (or want to save time) brown your ground beef or the meat of your choice, and add a jar of you favorite marinara. Let bubble for 20 minutes.
3. Cook your lasagna noodles in a large pot of water according to box directions. (be careful when cooking your noodles, you want them stay together and not break or tear)
4. Prepare your cheese mixture while the pasta is cooking. Mix together ricotta cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Add in Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano cheese.
5. Lay your cooked lasagna noodles out flat, one at a time, side by side. Be careful, they are hot. :)
6. Spoon a layer of your cheese mixture onto your noodles and spread evenly. Top with spoon full (desired amount) of sauce, spread evenly to create an additional layer. Top each with a layer of grated Mozzarella.
7. Spoon a few tablespoons of your sauce in the bottom of your baking dish. Roll each layered noodle to create layered roll and place in your baking dish.
8. Top with remaining sauce and shredded cheese, bake for 35 minutes.