Colorful Brownies

Sweetie and I have been doing some major construction repairing a couple of windows on the south side of the house where the rain leaked in. The folks who built the house apparently neglected to put flashing in, so we've been dealing with many, many years of leaking. Being the type who tries to look at the bright side, I must admit that it has been a trial to find any silver lining, but learning to put up a fifteen foot high scaffolding was that tiny sliver of silver. It was sort of like playing on jungle gyms as we got higher and higher.

One of the results of this unexpected extra work was that I had committed to bringing more desserts to the picnic on the weekend than I had time to bake from scratch. I decided that the mini peach pies really deserved the time.

It also didn't take very long to slice up some juicy ripe watermelon and cut it into wedges. We kept it cold right up until it was served, so it was quite popular on a warm evening.

The third dessert was brownies. Brownies made from a mix, but dolled up with a few things to make them more appealing.

While they were still hot, I placed halves of York peppermint patties on half of the brownies (I used the small ones) and covered it all up with foil to melt the candies. Once they were melted, I spread the minty goodness over half the pan of brownies. The whole pan then went into the 'fridge to cool overnight.

A few hours before the party I made ganache with

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup whipping cream

The combination, in a bowl, was microwaved on half power for a minute at a time, with vigorous whisking after each minute, until the ganache was smooth.

After it had cooled a bit to thicken up, I poured about half of it over the pan of brownies and spread it out over the entire pan. While the ganache was still runny, I sprinkled mini-chocolate M&Ms over it.

On the half with the mint, I used only green ones.

On the other half, I used multi-colored M&Ms. This made for some pretty colorful and tasty brownies...and they sure looked like a party!

Sum-sum-summertime

There are few things more summery, if we are talking enjoyment, than a picnic. I'm not really a summer lover, far preferring fall's vivid hues and cooler days, but summer does have a wonderful variety of fruits and vegetables to play with. Picnics can be thrown together with some string cheese or other cheeses, crackers and baguette slices, carrots and red pepper slices and celery sticks and zucchini sticks for veggies, plus bunches of ripe grapes, succulent sweet strawberries, blueberries to eat by the handful and cool, crunch slices of juicy watermelon...seed spitting is optional.

This is also the season of one of my favorite fruits, peaches.

This week my local market had ripe white peaches for a reasonable price...irresistible. For a backyard picnic at a relative's (Happy 5th Anniversary A&J!) my contribution was a basket of these cute four inch individual peach pies. They went fast!

The dough is easy and handles well. It is one I found on Peabody's new blog, Northwest Noshings. Do visit it if you haven't already. She gives a delicious glimpse of some of the iconic foods of the Northwest area of the U.S. and places to eat them. She used this dough for the crust of a yummy Salmon Pie. Go there to get the pie dough recipe.

Now this dough isn't low calorie, but it is flaky and delicate and very tasty. Fresh, ripe, juicy white peaches are a real treat but the pastry was just as much of a treat to eat. Together they were magical! I even added a sprinkle of crystal sugar to the finished little pies for sparkle and crunch. You could also make these little pies with yellow peaches, plums, cherries, blueberries, blackberries...you get the idea.

It was fairly warm in the kitchen as I worked, so I returned the dough to the 'fridge often to keep it cool enough to roll and cut and handle. The crimping of the edges after they were sealed was done with a regular dinner fork.

If you make these, be prepared for them to be the favorite dessert at your picnic...they even aced out the brownies I made (which I'll blog about later) and they went well with watermelon wedges, too. Make the dough at least an hour before you bake the pies to give it a change to chill thoroughly.

Individual White Peach Pies with Peabody's Crust

1 recipe Cream Cheese Pie Dough from Northwest Noshings (see above for link), chilled

4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and diced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated (if possible) nutmeg

1 tablespoon sugar (or more to taste)

2 teaspoons half and half or cream

About 2 tablespoons crystal sugar

On lightly flour surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out half of the pie dough. The dough might be sticky, so flip it over about half way through rolling and sprinkle on a little more flour if needed. Using a 4 inch cutter or small plate, cut 12 discs of dough. Place them, with at least an inch of space between the discs, on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Mix the peaches, flour, nutmeg, and sugar together to blend, mixing gently so as not to bruise the peaches. Place about a tablespoon of the mixture int he middle of each dough disc, mounding it a bit int he center. (See photo below for approximate amount.) Run a moistened finger around the edge of the dough disc up to the mound of peaches. Chill while rolling out the rest of the dough.

Roll out the remainder of the dough and cut 12 more discs, re-rolling the scraps as necessary.

Place a disc on top of the mound of peaches and seal edges of dough disc to bottom dough disc. Flute with dinner knife tines to seal. Repeat until all twelve mini pies have been made and sealed.

Brush top of each pie lightly with half and half or cream and sprinkle lightly with crystal sugar (optional).

Bake in a preheated 400 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes, reversing pans top to bottom and front to back about half way through baking. Pies should be golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes. Transfer to wire cooling rack to cool. Serve warm or cold.

Peabody's Cream Cheese Pie Crust 2 cups all-purpose flour 8 ounce cream cheese, softened but still cool 2 sticks(8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
In a mixer, combine all ingredients and mix on medium-low until it forms a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Serving size - one per person.