By By Lisa Tindell
I collect recipes of all kinds, much to the dismay of my husband.
We recently took a weekend trip to Destin which is filled with giant bookstores and tiny shops filled with a myriad of interesting books, including cookbooks.
I love to add things to my vast collection of recipes and finding a new cookbook is much like a pirate finding a treasure or a gambler hitting the jackpot. My joy is quiet obvious since I usually gasp, ooo and ahh over selections found in various places.
One shop that I visited on my little weekend get-away displayed a special selection of the cutest cookbooks. Each was shaped like soup cans, cupcakes, boxes and the like, depending on the theme of the book. I literally jumped when I discovered this display.
If you wonder whether I purchased any of these books, then you don't know me very well. There were five different books in the collection and I have added all of them to my collection.
The book shaped like a cupcake was, of course, about cupcakes. Some very interesting techniques and fillings were described in the book. My son is certainly anxious for me to give some of them a try.
I also love to get recipes from individuals. These recipes are much better than those put into a book. The reason for that is because they have been tried, re-tried and perfected by the cook who passes it along to me.
One person who has been wonderful to share some interesting recipes for my collection is a reader of this column. Glorae White has shared a few recipes with us and I have even included a couple in this space. She has also tried a few of the recipes and has given me some great responses. I remember a while back that I included a recipe for a cake that called for a can of tomato soup in this space. She tried it and said she had really good results.
That's what I like to collect even more than recipe books - great comments from fellow cooks. As a matter of fact, I'm including one of Mrs. White's recipes this week. I'd do the same for you if you'd like to share with our readers.
Strawberry Pizza
1 cup self-rising flour
One-half cup chopped nuts
1 stick melted butter
Mix together and pat into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 until lightly brown, Set aside to cool completely before adding the following topping.
For Topping:
1 cup cool whip
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
Mix well and spread on crust. Top with sliced strawberries and spread with a package strawberry glaze.
This recipe also works well with peaches. For peach pizza we used four medium fresh ripe peaches, and mixed with peach glaze.
Mrs. White said she used margarine in place of the butter in the crust with no problems. She also indicated that her family and friends preferred the peaches to strawberries in this recipe.
I appreciate Mrs. White sending this recipe to me. It's perfect for this time of year especially with peaches being in season right about now.
That got me to thinking about other great recipes calling for peaches. Another reader, Marvis Simmons, contacted me last week and asked me to help her find a recipe for pickled peaches. Well, I did find a few and passed them along to her. I told her that she had to share some of her work when she was done. I haven't had a pickled peach yet, but I'm sure she's on her way with a jar.
Here are a couple of recipes using peaches that I hope you'll enjoy.
No Bake Peach Pie
One-half cup water
Two-thirds cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter
6 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 (9 inch) graham cracker pie crust
Stir together the water, sugar, cornstarch, and butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When the mixture has come to a boil, add a few slices of the peaches, then lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes until thick and smooth. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool completely. Place the remaining peach slices into the pie crust, and spread the sauce all over them, covering completely. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until firm before serving.
And if you've got some peaches you need to do something with, you may want to trying pickling them like Mrs. Simmons. If you want to give it a try, use this simple and fairly quick recipe.
Pickled Peaches
4 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
4 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
15 whole cloves
4 pounds fresh peaches – peeled, pitted and sliced
Pour sugar and vinegar into a large saucepan, and stir to dissolve sugar. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves, and bring to a boil. Cover and boil for about 5 minutes. Strain out the cloves and cinnamon sticks, or you can leave them in for a stronger flavor. Pack peaches into hot sterile 1 pint jars to within 1 inch of the rim. Fill each jar with syrup to within 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe rims with a clean dry cloth, and seal with new lids and screw bands. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
I hope you enjoy these recipes for the summer's best crops.
Remember if you have a recipe, hint or tip that you would like to share, we'd love to print them here. Drop your information by the office or email it to lisa.tindell@brewtonstandard.com.
Until next week, Happy Cooking!