Peach Coffee Cake | Perfect Sunday Brunch

This coffee cake makes the perfect weekend brunch or snack! And it was a great way to use up some of the summer fruit I canned last August. I used peaches in the coffee cake but pears, apples, blueberries, or any fruit you have make it moist and delicious! The recipe is a combination I invented of all of our favorite recipes. My Nana has a great Cowboy Coffee Cake that is crumbly and made in a bunt pan and Kyle loves his family's recipe with peaches on the bottom. You probably have most of the ingredients already in your pantry & refrigerator. Make a big batch...it goes fast!

Ingredients

1 quart diced peaches, drained

or your favorite summer fruit

Cake:

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 3/4 cup sugar

3 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup whole milk or sweetened condensed milk

3 whole eggs, beaten until fluffy

Topping:

1 1/2 stick butter

3/4 cup flour

1 3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon, Nutmeg, or your favorite combination of spices

Optional: 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

Beat the 3 whole eggs in electric mixer (or with immersion blender with whisk attachment) until they are fluffy and have doubled in size. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk.

Fold in the peaked whipped eggs at the end.

Spread your sliced peaches (or any fruit) in the bottom of a buttered casserole dish. (I used a 9x13 but a pan a little larger or two 9x9 pans may work better)

Spread the cake mixture on top.

In the bowl of your mixer or by hand, combine the ingredients for the topping: flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts (optional).

Sprinkle this crumbly topping on your cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until the center is set and a knife comes out clean.

Serve warm! Enjoy!



Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I've been organizing my pantry and realizing how much jam I made last summer. I thought I would make Jam Thumbprint Cookies to try to use some up!

I used Apricot-Raspberry jam and Blueberry Lemon! They are the perfect combination of sweet and tart!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 1/2 stick softened butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3-1/2 cup jam (your choice)

Directions

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer or large bowl, whip the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine.

Slowly add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix slowly and gently.

Scoop the dough into balls (whatever size you like) and roll with your hand to make a perfect round shape.

Place the dough on a non-stick or greased cookie sheet.

When you have rolled all of the dough into balls, use your thumb to make an imprint and flatten out the center of each ball of dough.

Use a teaspoon to fill each center with your favorite jam.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes until barely golden brown.

Cool and enjoy!



You're the Butter to my Bread...

My business La Lune Events collaborated with some lovely local vendors in the wedding industry to create a vintage Valentine's Day photoshoot inspired by the iconic Paul & Julia Child. Our theme was based on Paul's famous quote to Julia, “You are the butter to my bread, the breath of my life – I love you my darling girl.”

Alisa's Garden made the mini loaves for this shoot (recipe to follow soon) and the truffles you saw in yesterday's post.

Our gorgeous models are my dear friends I have known since elementary school, Emily & James! They are married now and the sweetest couple...perfect for our vintage photo shoot!

The make up and hair was done by one of our soon-to-be La Lune Brides, Alicia Smith, of Artistic Expressions Make Up.

The amazing natural light photography is from our friend, Megan, of Easy Dreamer Photography!

And the styling, props, and even design were created by La Lune Events!

The stunning fabric florals were made by Emici Bridal! LOVELY!

If you're already craving more of this lovely shoot you can view the entire thing at Green Wedding Shoes where we were featured today!



Seafood Linguine | A Valentine's Day 20 Minute Meal

 

This is a lovely meal to share with your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. This year Valentine's Day falls on a Monday so you may have less time to prepare. But if you want to have a romantic evening at home, this is the perfect 20 minute (or less) meal. The pasta and seafood cook at the same time and only take about 8-10 minutes. The rest is prep work.

Serves 2-4 People

Ingredients

1/4 lbs Blue Mussels
1/4 lbs Clams
8-10 large Tiger Prawns
1 package Linguine pasta
1/2 stick of Butter
1/2 cup White Wine
1 Lemon
3 TBS Chopped Fresh Parsley
3-4 Cloves of Garlic
2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese

Directions

Clean and prepare seafood for the pan.

Boil a large pot of water for the pasta. Warm a large skillet with 1/2 stick of butter and white wine.

Chop garlic finely and set aside. Chop Parsley finely and set aside. Zest lemon & squeeze juice and set aside.

When water boils add pasta.

At the same time add the seafood to skillet of butter & wine.

Add the chopped garlic, parsley, lemon zest, and juice. Place a lid on the skillet and steam on medium heat until the prawns are pink and the mussels and clams have opened completely. (If a mussel or clam does not open, discard it.)

When the pasta is al dente (still a little firm) use tongs to remove it from the water and place it directly into the skillet. (It's ok to include some of the starchy pasta water. This helps create a sauce)

Add the Parmesan cheese and salt to taste at the end. Toss the seafood and pasta with tongs. Serve with more parsley and shavings of parmigiano for garnish.

 Recipe by Alisa's Garden. Photography by Maryangelo.

Maryangelo's Potato Asparagus Soup

Maryangelo has been cooking up a storm this week!

Take a peek at her "Week of Love" posts at here.

Cauliflower Soup

This is a simple and easy to make soup! You could substitute plain Greek Yogurt for the Ricotta to add even more protein. It's also good with some cooked spinach added in. Serve with warm bread and you have a great meal.

Ingredients

1 head Cauliflower

1 cup milk or 1/2 & 1/2

1 cup Ricotta Cheese

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar or Mozzarella

1 tsp Salt

1 TBS Butter

Directions

Wash and chop Cauliflower into rough pieces.

Steam in pot on stove with a small amount of water until tender.

Drain water.

Add Milk, Ricotta, Cheese, Butter, and Salt to pan.

Use a hand immersion blender to puree the mixture in the pan on the stove.

Add more milk or cheese to achieve desired consistency.

Serve with Cheddar on top.

Enjoy!

Cold Weather Soups

It's been cold here in the northwest and soup sounds delicious! I've been looking through a few of my past soup recipes!

Here are a few to browse through! Follow the links to the actual recipe. Enjoy your soup making! Let me know your favorites!

Garlicky White Bean & Greens Soup

Chicken Soup

Potato Soup

French Onion Soup with Gruyere Croutons

Butternut Squash Soup

Minestrone Soup