Thelma is a marvelous hostess. Her house is always tidy, cushions inevitably plumped, her patio is an oasis of calm (as long as the neighbors aren’t mowing) and there is always plenty of tea to savor. (You may make your own if you prefer, but please be sure to do so in the Approved Manner, or you may never hear the end of it.) She can even produce a small coffee maker for the barbarians among us who prefer our brews to be seed, rather than leaf, based. (Truer love hath no friend.)
Thelma does not, however, enjoy cooking as much as I do, so while there is always food on hand, it's not unusual to find me called upon to transform said food items into “a dish”.
So there I was, relaxing on the patio with my coffee, when my friend looked over at me and mused, “I seem to recall you make a scrumptious peach cobbler... I think you should use the peaches off my tree and make us one. Like…, right now!”
I was marginally loathe to bestir myself, but on the other hand… I do make a danged good peach cobbler. And these were fresh peaches - which did need to be used fairly soon, Plus, you know, there’s always that vacation/treat relationship to maintain…
So I looked up a recipe (not quite mine but very close) and we checked to see that we had everything on hand, with me calling out ingredients to Thelma as she rummaged through her cupboards, extracting each one in turn. (Sugar - check! Flour - check! Egg - check! Nutmeg - check! Butter - check! Peaches - check!)
Soon, we had a nice, orderly row of sugar and spice and everything nice lined up on her counter, just waiting for me to begin. She unearthed her mixer, set the oven to preheat, and retired with her tea to the patio, while my coffee and I took over the kitchen. I measured and tossed, peeled and sliced, spread and baked. Then it was my turn to retire to the patio, while Thelma came in for cleanup duty.
I had just settled back into my book when I heard peals of infectious laughter ringing out from the kitchen. A head popped out the back door and Thelma’s grinning face looked at me.
“Did you actually look at the nutmeg?”
“Uh, noooo… I operated on blind trust. - Was that a mistake?”
Still chuckling, she held out the small bottle for me to read.
“Ah. Ummmm … Whoopsie!!?!”
It turned out okay, tho’.
We’ve decided that Mustard-Crusted Peach Cobbler is actually magnificently trend-setting.
You wait… it will be all the rage any day now!
8 comments:
Heeheehee! Although i must say, Sweetie had an uncle who put mustard on everything, including his ice cream. He would have loved it.
Ha! Well, perhaps it just adds an extra-zesty tang to the tasty-ness. :)
Hi Jz - oh oh - depending how much went it ... it should be ok ... but how often do we do things like that. I still think I'd rather be on the patio chilling out - perhaps eating fresh peaches. But peach cobbler is good too - cheers Hilary
mm-
Actually, I've been tempted by a recipe for mustard ice cream that I've been seeing make the rounds out there... (I'll keep you posted!)
Mrs. F-
Yup.
Thelma had wondered if we should just toss it out, but I was pretty sure it would be ok... and it was. :-D
H-
I doubt Thelma would make *you* cook - it's only friends of 30 years that get exploited like that. ;-D
She would insist that you sit on the patio with your tea and she'd serve you the cobbler when it was ready. (Do you like yours warm, with vanilla ice cream?)
Could I have cream please - warm cobbler and cream ... just gooey ...
Would love to be on Thelma's patio ... can imagine it'd be just great - thanks for the idea ... looks glorious - as I'm now in a cloudy almost evening!
Wonderful ... cheers Hilary
H-
Absolutely!
Whatever suits.
Could have added a nice zing to it in the right quantities. People like that spicy-sweet thing, right?
I'm not a fan of peaches, but I make a mean apple crisp!
L-
It really was just a nice little hint in the background, yes.
I'm actually making an apple crisp this afternoon!
Post a Comment