Peach Jam

I absolutely love peaches. Eat them fresh, eat them frozen, sprinkled with cinnamon, it's all good to me. So, when my grocery store was selling peaches for less than 50 cents a pound, well, I couldn't resist. I went and bought 12 pounds of peaches. No, I wasn't buying them for anyone else to eat, there's only me. No, I wasn't crazy. It's just that I love a good deal and I do eat a lot of fruit. Still, that was an awful lot of peaches. What could I do with them all?

How about making some Peach Jam? Sound like a good idea? It did to me. Now, I had never made jam before in my life, but there's a first time for everything. The recipe that I found didn't require a lot of ingredients, but it is a bit time consuming. First you need to skin the peaches by blanching them in hot water and shocking them in cold water. Then, the skins are "supposed to" come right off. Well, mine came half off and the other half stuck stubbornly on the fruit. In hindsight, I guess my water may not have been hot enough, or I didn't blanch them long enough. Either way, I ended up just skinning the rest off with a knife.

Then, I cut up my peaches, added a little lemon juice, and set them to cook on the stove. It took a little longer than the recipe stated for my peaches to break down, but soon I was adding my sugar and waiting for it to gel. Ten minutes later, and I had this beautiful bowl of jam to show for all my hard work.


Yum. It's like a bowl of golden sunshine. I added a little cinnamon to mine to give it a little kick. Now, what should I do with all this sweetness?


Maybe eat it on toast. Yeah, that sounds good. I think that's what I'll do. The last of summer never tasted so good.

Peach Jam (adapted from Mix, Mix . . . Stir, Stir)

1 lb. fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. sugar

Place a small plate in the refrigerator to have chilled for testing the set of the jam.

Place the peaches and lemon juice in a 3 qt. heavy-bottom sauce pan. Over medium-low heat, let the peaches cook for about 15 min. to become very soft and release their juices. Stir frequently to prevent burning and lower the heat if necessary. As the peaches soften, mash them with the back of a spoon.

Once the peaches have broken down and cooked for 15 min., reduce the heat and stir in the sugar. After the sugar is completely dissolved, increase the heat to medium-high and bring the jam to a boil for 5 min.

Place a small dollop of jam on the chilled plate and put it in the refrigerator for a minute or two. To check for setting, push one edge of the jam toward the center of the dollop. If the surface wrinkles, the jam is set and can be removed from the heat. If not, continue to cook and re-test every few minutes. Transfer the jam to a clean jar and store in the refrigerator. Enjoy within 1-2 weeks.

Makes 1 cup

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

I'm so excited. This will be the first online baking group I've ever joined. In case you haven't heard about it, it is being hosted by April of Abby Sweets. The way it works is that every person in the group gets to choose a cookie recipe to make and post each Friday. This continues for 12 weeks starting on October 1 and ending on December 17. Anyone can join - just send April an e-mail and she'll add you to the fun. I can't wait. I've got my to-do list of cookies all ready to go (well, almost).

Butter Mochi . . . Cake???

No, that's not cornbread you're seeing, nor is it a plain Jane yellow cake. This is something much, much better. It's Butter Mochi Cake (and I do emphasize the "butter" part).

My sister could absolutely live off of butter mochi. It is her all-time favorite. In fact, when we were at the store, she was actually willing to pay more than $5 for a few small pieces of it. That to me was unthinkable. So, I convinced her to put that measly tray back by promising her that I would make an entire panful of the stuff just for her (much cheaper that way).

Of course, I had never made butter mochi before in my life, so I guess it was sort of a risky promise. But, I had faith in my baking skills and was sure I could find a good recipe, so we bought the ingredients and I put myself to the test.

First off, finding a decent recipe. If I could do that, the actual making of it would take care of itself. I went straight to a book called "Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes" by Jean Watanabe Hee.

(picture taken from Amazon.com)

This is a wonderful little book with all sorts of recipes for mochi - blueberry mochi, pumpkin mochi, strawberry mochi, and more. I bet you didn't know there could be so many variations for that chewy little treat. Upon looking, I found not one, but three recipes for Butter Mochi. Each one differed regarding the ingredients and the amounts used. How was I going to choose? Well, I did the only thing I could do, I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best, and picked one.

The ingredients used are very rich - one WHOLE stick of butter (no substitutes), 2 1/2 cups of sugar, and a whole can of coconut milk (I used the good stuff, not the lite - after all you only live once). After combining the ingredients, you pour everything into a well greased pan (mochi is very sticky). Then, you pop it into the oven and let it bake.

The smell from the oven was heavenly - imagine the air wafting with butter and a slight coconutty undertone. Once it was done baking, I pulled it out and stared in awe at its beautiful, luscious, shiny, golden surface. It's 24 Karat goodness alright.

(go ahead, you can stare at it too)

The only thing we noticed was that it differed in texture from other butter mochi we had eaten before. Butter mochi is usually very dense, but this one was, dare I say, fluffy, like a cake??? But, upon tasting it, all was forgotten. The taste was perfect, spot-on. It was buttery and sweet, like eating warm sunshine itself. My dad even said that he liked it better as a cake. As for my sister, she was happy as a clam. I don't think she'll ever buy butter mochi again.

Butter Mochi (from Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee)

1 pound mochiko flour (16 oz. box)
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter
5 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can coconut milk (12 oz.)

Melt butter and set aside to cool. Combine butter with sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Add the coconut milk. Combine the baking powder with the mochiko flour and add. Mix with spoon until batter is smooth. Pour into well-greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 375F for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.