Just Peachy: A Holiday Weekend and Possibly the Best Peach Ice Cream Ever!

Posted on May 28, 2012 by bitsandbreadcrumbs

Luscious homemade peach ice cream. I mean really, can there be anything better than this? (A daylight picture perhaps?)

For those of us in the United States, we are celebrating Memorial Day today and, whether you are here or abroad, I hope you all have had a lovely and safe weekend. Memorial Day is a day set aside in our country to honor those in the United States Armed Forces who have given their lives and their service in defense of our country and our allies, and I bow my head to those brave men and women. Today many memorials are taking place around the country in the form of parades, the laying of wreathes and tributes. Continue reading →

A Very Short Little Peach Cake

Posted on May 22, 2012 by bitsandbreadcrumbs

Peaches! We have them…the first of the season from south Georgia, and boy are they a welcome sight. It seems like forever since peaches were in season, and now at last they’ve arrived, even a bit early, like everything this year.

After the first week of eating them in a few juicy bites, or with some Greek yogurt and granola, I began to calm down once I realized that these were early peaches and we should have peaches for a while to come. And that’s when I started thinking about baking. Now, I don’t bake a lot…mainly because there are just two of us and, well, if I make it, we will eat it…rapidly and until no crumbs remain. But peaches do inspire me to start trying some new ideas.

My first thought was something cake-y. More so than a crisp or a cobbler, but maybe more versatile than a muffin. I love shortcakes…why not combine the idea of fruit and shortcake into one…besides the fact that I’ve never seen it done? And hence the result: a very short little peach cake! Continue reading →

A Mahvelously Mediterranean Salad with Garlic and Cumin Roasted Chickpeas

Posted on May 14, 2012 by bitsandbreadcrumbs

One of the main reasons that I’ve come to enjoy blogging so much is the incredible range and variety of ideas that get shared and exchanged via comments here, and in reading and commenting on other blogger’s posts as well. Honestly, there are so many terrific sounding recipes out there that I want to try, and I know I will never get to them all. But each and every one informs and inspires me in some way…informs my thought processes in planning meals, in buying and growing food, and inspires my creative efforts in the kitchen. As I rapidly approach my first year of blogging, I realize that this process has become an integral part now of who I am and how I operate.

And here’s a perfect example of this process in action. Continue reading →

Into each life, some rain must fall…hopefully!

Posted on May 6, 2012 by bitsandbreadcrumbs

We’ve waited and waited. Weeks on end without rain and with record high temperatures, close to or in the 90’s, and dry as a bone. Then finally this weekend, some rain!

Our house in the forest, by artist Jeanie Holland.

A time or two now, I believe I’ve mentioned that our property is mostly shaded. And by this I mean we practically live in a forest of 80-year-old and 100-foot-tall pine trees, with an understory of dogwood trees, Japanese maples, shade-hearty shrubs, and various perennial plants and ferns.

From the get-go, I knew my desire to have a vegetable garden of any type was an exercise in futility, but I pursued it anyway. And this spring, on top of having no sun in my yard, we’ve struggled with having very little rain at a time when we usually get the bulk of rainfall we’re going to for the next few months. The clouds tease, the forecasters make promises and all the moisture goes right around us. I’ve watered, only just enough to keep everything going and within our watering restrictions, but city water with all that chlorine just isn’t what the plants want. Then Friday rolls around, and what’s this? We have moisture coming from the sky…ta da! Suddenly everything is growing again. Continue reading →