Summer nights are for peaches.

This time of Summer, you start to see peaches everywhere!  They are begging to be turned into something delightful but I also feel like they can be a little intimidating.  They require patience if they're not quite ripe and I don't know about you but that's not always my strongest suit.  And, to be honest, peeling them seemed a little scary, but it's not, I promise.   We picked some up at the grocery store a week ago that were like little bricks and I also grabbed some at The Old Home Place that were edible much sooner.  After a week on the counter, all we could smell last night in the kitchen was the sweetest peach aroma begging to be made into something incredible.  After all, here's the other thing...after waiting for them to get to the perfect ripeness, they all get there at once and now they need to be consumed fairly quickly before they tip past their prime.  No problem....late night blueberry peach cobbler for the win!  Peaches and blueberries are best friends.  But again, if you'd rather just have peaches, just leave the blueberries out.  If you get nothing else from reading my recipes, get this.  Make them your own!  Tweak them to your tastes, leave out the cinnamon if you don't like it, add more blueberries if you want, substitute strawberries.  Open your mind, instead of just not liking something.  Cooking and baking are magical and require no criticism, just love and adventure in the kitchen.  It can be so fun!

Two bowls, similar ingredients in each bowl, put it in a pan and bake.  The most difficult part is letting it cool once it comes out of the oven for at least 30 minutes before diving in so the juices can set up and you don't burn your tastebuds off.  Again, anyone else struggle with patience?!  :)  It's worth the wait.  Even if it was 8pm before it was ready last night, everyone was digging their spoon back into the pan for that "one more bite".  Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Peach Blueberry Crumble

Filling:

6 large peaches
1 cup blueberries
zest of one large lemon and the juice of it
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Crumble topping:

1 cup of flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, just melted but not hot

Directions:

1.  Peel the peaches.  Boil a pot of hot water.  Drop the peaches carefully into the boiling water for about a minute or until you can start to rub the skin off with tongs, it doesn't take long.  Immediately put them in an ice water bath and use your hands to peel off the skins.  Cut them into bite size chunks.

2.  Add all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and let sit for about 5-10 minutes while you make the topping.  This lets the juices start to come out of the peaches which will make that delightful sauce you are going to want when it finishes baking!

3.  Make the topping.  Add all of the ingredients in a bowl except the butter.  Whisk together to combine them and evenly distribute the salt and cinnamon throughout the flour mixture.  Melt the butter until just melted, not hot.  Stir it into the the dry ingredients until a nice crumble forms.  Truthfully, the easiest way to mix this together is with your best tools, your hands.

4. Assemble.  Spoon your filling into a greased 8x8 square dish and spread it evenly.  Top the filling with the crumble mixture and bake!  Bake at 350 degrees.  Of course oven time varies, mine took nearly an hour to bake, but start it at 35 minutes and check it.  Baking/cooking times for recipes are not set in stone.  They require some active participation from you.  For this particular recipe, you are looking for the crumble to be the golden brown color of your desire and those beautiful fruit juices to be bubbling their heart out.  This is what makes that incredible thick sauce in your crumble.

Once out of the oven, let it sit for at least 30 minutes before diving in.  Add ice cream or whipped cream or not and enjoy!

Try with other fruit assortments as well!  Apples, other stone fruits, mixed berries, strawberry rhubarb, the options are endless.  Let me know if you try it out, I'd love to hear your combinations.