Trust me, we are not even close to the end of our turkey leftover adventures but from here on out I'm going to have to space things out a bit because we're all getting a little edgy about it.  There's more grumbling and whining happening for sure and now that there is also hallowe'en candy to sneak attack, we're eating more of that than the healthy stuff.  Who can blame all of us really.  I cringe a little every time I look at those bags in the freezer.  My brain hurts when I try to think of some new and wonderful thing to make with the stuff.  I made cauliflower, broccoli soup with some of the turkey broth but held myself back from throwing in some shredded turkey as well.  I feared absolute mutiny.


Last weekend I made these meatballs because I thought - Who is going to turn their nose up at meatballs.  Nobody did.  They gobbled - I had to hold them back... until I put them in the sauce.  The sauce for me was the best part but for the rest (especially Kid#1 and #2) these meatballs were much more enjoyable on their own.  What would that make them?  Appetizer.  How do you make plain meatballs part of a meal?  I'm not sure if that even registers for me.  I don't understand it.  I need sauce to feel like a whole person.  Without the sauce each kid ate at least 5 meatballs as soon as they were cool enough not to burn their mouths.  They didn't eat any dinner after that.  I guess that you could try these without the sauce and see if you like it enough to eat them all (it makes a lot) without any help OR you could also make the sauce and add only if necessary.  The sauce was nice enough for me to eat on it's own but whatever, kids have a weird sense of taste... or else I do.

The Meatballs free of any 'icky' sauce

In other news, I tried curling yesterday.  Curling is weird.  A weird Canadian sporting activity that originated in Scotland.  Not as weird as Cricket however.  Considering you have to slide a 40 lb granite ball along pebbly ice and hope to god that it lands somewhere in the vicinity of the bulls-eye at the other end of the rink and doesn't hit someone's foot or make it's way into someone else's game along the way, it's a pretty uptight sport.  Again, embarrassment has never phased me much so a couple of full on face plants on the ice didn't deter me.  After figuring out that my butt needs to stick up in the air more things generally got a whole lot better.  Any game that requires such vigorous butt raising can't be all bad.  I would do it again but only if there was the promise of an evening of alcohol in a very warm place afterwards... and I could play with some interesting butts.
I'm trying very very hard not to get all out of joint with our current Mayoral Bull*&%t but I'm finding it hard not to feel a little depressed about it.  If you haven't heard about it then count yourself lucky and I'm not going to fill you in on the details.  Besides, you can get the basics here.  Have a Happy Weekend.



Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
serves 6

Meatballs:
3 - 4 cup cooked turkey, diced small (I used the giblets too)
3 small cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced small
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp italian seasoning
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp pepper sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 veggie bouillon cube
3/4 cup ricotta
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 lg egg
2 tbsp oil

Tomato Sauce
1 med leek, sliced
2 red or green peppers, thinly sliced
2 med cloves garlic
5 - 6 leaves lacinato kale (or any green really)
3 cups tomato, diced
2 tbsp worcestershire
1/2 cup red wine or water
1 tbsp italian seasoning (or a mix of dried herbs)
1 heaping tbsp brown sugar or honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup tomato paste
dash of pepper
dash of pepper sauce (optional)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Meatballs:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon liner and set aside.
Use a blender or a food processor (much easier - I had to stop the blender every few seconds, stir everything and pulse again.  Stop. Repeat. Bored) pulse the turkey until it resembles the texture of mush.  Add the garlic, onion, salt, italian seasoning, worcestershire, pepper sauce, soy sauce, dijon mustard and bouillon cube to the mixture and pulse again and again until it's all mixed in.
Pour into a bowl.
Add the ricotta, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, egg and oil.
Get your fingers in there and finger it all together, through your fingers and mix it all together.  Mix until everything is well blended.
Shape a large spoonful into a meatball and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Once all of the meatballs are ready, bake for about 25 minutes or until golden and the bottoms are brown.
Remove the oven and set aside.

Tomato Sauce:
Heat a heavy bottomed pot over med heat.
Add about 3 tbsp of grease or oil.  Heat it for a minute.
Add the leeks, peppers and garlic.  Turn the heat down to med/low and let it sweat together for about 12 minutes or so.
Add in the diced tomato, worcestershire, wine, brown sugar, salt and tomato paste.
Simmer over med/low heat for another 15 minutes.  It will cook down quite a bit.
Add the kale, pepper, pepper sauce and parmesan.
Let it cook for about 5 minutes or until the kale is wilted.
Add in the meatballs and remove from heat.

Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes or regular pasta.

I am happy to report that I had one person on Facebook co-bitch with me regarding the abundance of pumpkin themed food and food products.  I feel vindicated and thoroughly supported.  This person later sent me a picture of on of our local spot's advertising their homemade pumpkin pie yogurt.  We both had a good laugh about it and my friend told me that pumpkin kefir is probably making it's way to store shelves as we speak.  Yeah - totally vindicated.  All of the rest of you probably think that I'm nuts or you are so busy sipping your pumpkin latte and eating your pumpkin pancakes that you haven't had a chance to tell me off.  I'm sorry for 'not loving' pumpkin.
Of course, the reason for all of the pumpkin crazy is because it's squash season and squash season ends up being Thanksgiving season.  Canada has already had it's Thanksgiving.  I don't know why we have it early and I know that a quick jaunt over to wikipedia would fill me in but the truth is that I simply don't care enough to make the trip.  Whatever the reason, Canada observes Thanksgiving a month and a half before the U.S.  This means that we've got turkey to deal with long before Americans even have to think about it.  At our house this year, it means that if we can get away with it we will not have to think about turkey for a very very long time... well beyond christmas.
Turkey has a reputation for being dry - not entirely unfounded.  I've had some nasty, dry birds at my table.  This year we bought ours from a Mennonite shop where the birds are looked after well and have a happy life and all of that crap.  I think it made a difference.  In addition to that, D painstakingly marinated the turkey with his home concoction of deliciousness that made a huge difference.  He was setting his timer throughout the entire day, taking it out, pouring more sauce over it, sticking it back in the oven.  Painstaking.
My issue with turkeys isn't just the dry texture though, it's also the size.  They're big.  I've seen some at the Mennonite shop that took two people to carry out which I don't quite understand.  Either way, it's hard to get a truly small turkey and no matter, you're still looking at some hefty leftovers.  D took care of the turkey purchasing and I guess decided that 18 lbs sounded like a good idea.  I know what it can be like when you are there in the store.  You kind of get caught up in the moment.  All those other people lining up to pick up their turkey and you want a turkey and you're all celebrating something and it feels all holiday like.  I get it.  However, we are a family of 4.  One of those 4 people is 7 yrs old.  Another one of those 4 people (me) had a stomach bug the entire weekend and could barely stand up for two days let alone eat.  18 lbs of turkey takes a little while to get through for 4 people.


Our very big thanksgiving dinner used up about a half of a turkey breast between the four of us which left us with roughly 17 1/2 lbs of turkey to get through.  We ate leftover thanksgiving dinner - that took up two days.  I decided that I needed to clear out the fridge a bit so I made broth with the bones and all of that stuff - there are now 3 large containers of broth in the freezer.  I made turkey lasagna (Leftover Turkey #1) to mixed reviews but it mostly got eaten - that used up about 3 cups of turkey.  I made Turkey Orzo with cheese and crap (Leftover Turkey #2) to decidedly poor reviews - kind of got eaten - used up about 2 cups of turkey.  I had to get smart.  What are things that kids will eat almost no matter what?  Meatballs - coming in my next post, Pizza - Yes,  Pizza.  So I give you turkey pizza. I don't know what I'm going to do with the 6 1/2 lbs of turkey still in the freezer or or the 4 litres of turkey broth.  I honestly don't know how much more turkey any of us can face.  This pizza helped the cause along a little and I think may have kept my kids from divorcing me.  I would caution that the tomato and goat cheese are essential because turkey quite honestly needs all the help it can get.
For Christmas this year we are having lamb.



Turkey and Ricotta Pizza (my recipe)
Makes 2 medium pizza's

1 batch pizza dough (I used this recipe)
3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp each, olive oil and balsamic vinegar
3 lg cloves garlic
salt
2 1/2 cups ricotta
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp italian seasoning (or a mix of basil, oregano, marjoram)
1 cup chard or kale, finely chopped
1 cup goat cheese, crumbled
2 cups cooked turkey, shredded
2 - 3 cups mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Preheat oven to 300°F
Combine the cherry tomatoes, balsamic and olive oil.  Place on a lined baking sheet, spreading them out so that they make one layer.  Sprinkle with a little salt.  Roast for about 45 minutes turning down to 250°F for the last 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool a little.

Preheat oven to 475°F
Prepare baking sheets or pizza stones (for baking sheets, I coat them with a little cornmeal to that the crust doesn't stick) and set aside.
Combine the ricotta, Worcestershire, salt, italian seasoning.  Mix well.  Add the chopped kale and mix well.
Roll out pizza dough into the shape of your pan or stone and place the dough onto the prepared pans.
Divide the ricotta evenly between the pizza's and spread evenly around each pizza crust.
Sprinkle each pizza with roasted tomatoes, crumbled goat cheese, shredded turkey pieces evenly around.
Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parmesan.
Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes or until each pizza is bubbly, golden and the crust is crusty on the bottom.
Remove and cool for a few minutes before slicing.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a difficult confession.
I am not a fan of pumpkin.
I know.  I know.  I should be a fan of pumpkin.  It's absolutely unseasonal of me.  But seriously though, am I the only person who feels almost overwhelmed and definitely inundated with pumpkin recipes.  They are everywhere and everything.  Every time I check pinterest it feels like half of the recipes jumping out at me are pumpkin something or other.  Every cooking/baking blog is chock full of pumpkin this and that.  From bread to brownies, it's pumpkin coming at me.  There is literally a pumpkin version of just about everything.  I'm waiting for pumpkin toothpaste to make an appearance.  What am I thinking, it's probably already out there.
I haven't ever analyzed why I'm not a fan of pumpkin so much.  It's not necessarily unappealing to me I guess.  I absolutely don't crave it however.  Other than pumpkin pie I can't remember anything being made with pumpkin when I was a kid.  I guess you just didn't do it.  There was no Pinterest to give us all of these crazy pumpkin recipes after all.  We just ate oreo's and cheezeez instead.  And lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies.  Not pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  It doesn't smell like a sweet dessert thing to me either.  When I cook pumpkin (almost never) I don't immediate think 'cake' when I look at it mashed or smell it.  How it ever made it's way into a bowl of sugar and got dumped into a pie crust I'll never know.  Having said all of that, I may well chow down on a slice of pumpkin bread if someone offered it to me and a pumpkin muffin might go nicely with a morning coffee.  But so would a lot of other things.
While I'm not out there dumping pumpkin into my latte's (or any other flavoured-with-anything-other-than-coffee coffee for that matter), I do use a lot of fruit and whatever in my baking... when I bake.  Let's be clear, unless it contains chocolate in some clearly visible form it won't get eaten.  Yes, there are lots of things that get made in our kitchen but not eaten (at least in their entirety).  Recently, Kid #2 begged that I make some cookies, 'and not the healthy kind' he added.  By healthy he means with anything other than chocolate, white flour or chocolate chips.  After 7 months, give or take, of almost no baking and definitely precious little of the chocolate-chocolate chip-white flour variety, I decided that everybody was likely due a little treat.  These cookies are me obliging the request.  Kid #2 shared a few cookies with a friend from school who came over for a play date.  He told his friend that they were the best cookies in the world... and they are already gone.


Eaten.
Done.


No pumpkin added.


Chocolate Decadence Cookies adapted from 'Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy' Alice Medrich

Things you can't do when you contract a stomach bug:
 - eat
 - make food
 - stand up
 - think
 - answer phone calls
 - work
 - run
 - write a blog post

Things you can easily do when you contract a stomach bug:
 - sleep in your bed
 - lie down in your bed
 - find comfortable positions in your bed
 - doze while your 7 yr old reads to you in bed
 - allow yourself to be looked after in your bed

It's so easy to forget how immobilizing a stomach bug can be.  When you can't stand long enough to even brush your teeth.  That it becomes so difficult to concentrate that you can't even focus on a text message.  How many days it takes to go over it and how frustrating it can be. This has been my life over the last 5 days.  Incidentally, those same five days included our entire Thanksgiving weekend.  It's almost embarrassing to consider how much time I've spent sleeping over the last five days and alarming to realize how little I've eaten.  But such is the business of stomach bugs and, fingers crossed, it's the last time I have to deal with that business for a good, long while.


Needless to say, I did not do much eating of this lasagna.  I got hit just after I made it.  I am assured that it was very good though and, in case you were wondering, feeds an army.
It was Thanksgiving weekend in Canada so many or even most of us were celebrating in our way.  This was one of the first years in which we were completely on our own.  So even though I was not feeling great at all I managed to churn out some mashed potatoes (with the help of Kid #1), Trinidadian callaloo, stewed pigeon peas, stuffing and apple pie (at the request of Kid #2 who decided that he didn't like it)  D took care of the turkey - purchasing, prepping, roasting, basting, carving and making of gravy - all of it, thankfully.  I was able to eat some of our turkey dinner but not much.


This lasagna is a great way to use up some cooked chicken and an even better way to incorporate kale (the new superfood - I'm sure you've heard of it)  The best part is that it tastes good and everybody doesn't mind eating the super food.  It might not be the best thing for you if you have a stomach bug but quite frankly there is just nothing that is 'the best' when such things are in play.


Chicken and Ricotta Lasagna
serves 10

16 lasagna noodles (whole wheat is fine), cooked to al dente, drained and cooled slightly
4 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 lg cloves garlic, crushed
2 1/2 cups mushrooms, quartered
5 cups kale, finely chopped
1 cup broth (chicken or vegetable) or wine
3 1/2 cups ricotta
1 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup soft goat cheese (chèvre)
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp italian seasoning (or you can combine your own)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
good dash of pepper sauce (optional)
1 egg
1cup grated parmesan
3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
4 cups tomato sauce (I used my homemade stuff - anything you've got that is already seasoned is fine)

Preheat oven to 375°F
Heat a heavy bottomed dutch oven over medium heat.
Add about 3 tbsp of oil.
Add the onion and garlic, cooking until the onion is softening and turning golden.
Add the mushrooms and cook until they become soft.
Turn the heat down to low, add the kale and cover until the kale wilts.
Add the broth, ricotta, cream cheese, goat cheese, worcestershire, italian seasoning, lemon juice, honey, salt, pepper and pepper sauce (optional).  Mix well.
Add the chicken and mix well.
Add the egg and parmesan and mix well.
Take a large roasting pan and put enough tomato sauce in to just coat the bottom of the pan.
Line the pan with a layer of lasagna noodles.
Add a layer of the chicken mixture and then layer with about a half cup of tomato sauce and sprinkle with some mozzarella.
Continue layering it like this until everything has been used up, making sure to reserve enough mozzarella for the top.  If you have some extra parmesan then go ahead and sprinkle it on.
Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbly.
Cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not making burger paties with lentils or quinoa.  I feel that if I really were a healthy person or a caring person or a concerned person that I would be making quinoa burgers.  Maybe with black beans.... and kale.  That sounds right, doesn't it.  Quinoa burgers with black beans and kale.  Definitely has a ring to it.  Secretly, I feel weird about calling it a burger though.
The guilt never wins over the desire for pork.  Local and well-reared pork but still, it's pork.  I tell myself that the only way everyone will eat something with so much vegetable matter in it is with the power of pork.  This did not work last week when I made asian kale with mushrooms and bacon... it's still sitting in the fridge.  Truthfully, sometimes they just don't eat stuff.  Sometimes nothing is more appealing than pizza or chocolate.
I was afraid to admit it until I read this blog post.  She was so honest about how she felt when time after time, the family did not eat the cake.  They turned to everything but the cake.  Here's my story.  A couple of weeks ago, one of my voice students came in carrying a big bag of Chips Ahoy 100 calorie packages of death.  There were about 50 little packages of terrible in the big bag.  I hustled her downstairs to the studio before the kids could see it.  She told me she went to the outlet store and thought it would be nice to bring them for the kids.  It was very thoughtful of her.  I wish that it could have been peanuts or a dozen eggs or maybe even kale.  Chips Ahoy.
Of course, the kids saw the bag and were down stairs claiming their prize before the end of the lesson.  The said huge 'thank you's' and I think that Kid #2 thought that she might be Santa.  No word of a lie, this applesauce bread was cooling on the cooling rack.  It had just come out of the oven.  It looked beautiful.  It smelled beautiful.  I even glazed it because we all know that icing translates into 'gobbled up'.  Maple glaze - you can't beat that.  Except apparently you can beat that.  Apparently, 100 calorie Chips Ahoy mini's beats maple glaze and homemade applesauce bread.  I don't think that chocolate chips or hand dipping each slice into chocolate ganache would beat Chips Ahoy.  So I thought that the applesauce bread/cake was being eaten.  Being carried to school for snacks.  Thickly sliced for a lovely after school treat.  Eaten as a before bed snack.  I realized on Friday morning that the bread was still nearly whole on the counter top.  One slice taken, re-wrapped and left.  I checked the bag of 100 calorie Chips Ahoy mini's... there were 5 packages left.

Maybe there wasn't enough glaze?

The moral of this story:
Icing is no guarantee of consumption.
Take your baking to work where people are busy, depressed and desperate.  They will eat anything and be happier for it... unless they have 100 calorie Chips Ahoy mini's.


Red Fife Applesauce Bread with Maple Glaze adapted from EatLiveRun
makes 1 lg loaf cake

1 1/4 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 cup unbleached, all purpose
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Butter and flour a med/large loaf pan.  Set aside.
Combine the whole wheat and all purpose flour together.  Mix.
Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom to the flour.  Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until mixed and fluffy (you can whisk or use a mixer)  Add the egg and vanilla and continue to whisk or mix until fluffy and well combined.  Add in the applesauce and fold until combined.
Add the flour mixture and mix until everything is well combined and flour is entirely incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool on a wrack.

In all things new and exciting this week:
Kid #2 can now ride a two wheeler without an adult (mostly me) running beside/in front/behind him and holding onto some part of his bike.  That is, he can now pretty much ride it on his own.  I'm terrified but my back doesn't hurt as much.  There's a trade-off in there I suppose.
The Emmy's happened apparently and now they are done.
Kid #1 has started attending an arts school and manages to find ingenious ways for us to empty our wallets on a weekly basis.  This week's instalment: used uniform and dance wear sale, student fees and extra long piano lessons.  Yes - it's all worth while spending.  Yes - we are broke.
My bestie KT is currently in New Orleans building a house with Habitat for Humanity.  I miss her.  You can check her out here.  She's taken great pains to ensure that she is wearing pink for the entire week - even the work boots got painted.  She'll be back soon thank god.
My birthday is in two days and I haven't given it much thought.  Dinner?  Champagne?  Truth:  I've been having trouble sleeping because I end up getting anxious that I have left something undone (Did I email that event person?  Did I call Sick Kids' Chaplain?  Did I confirm the budget?)  I drag myself out of bed in slow motion and pray for a better night to come.  Thankfully, I'm down to a total of three skirts that fit which makes the dressing decision an easy one (budget for new clothing: $0 - see paragraph #2) and my breakfast consists of the same thing every day.  I muster together some veggies to chew on throughout the day and bike my tired ass to school to check on whether I sent that email, called that Chaplain and confirmed the budget... among other things.  Who has time to think about birthdays?  And what about the budget? (See paragraph #2)  I'm hoping that D just goes ahead with something that I will be more than thankful for and doesn't wait for me to get inspired.  Whatever happens I will fill you all in because I'm sure you must be bursting with anticipation.  I won't keep you in suspense for long, don't worry.


I wasn't going to post this recipe because I wasn't sure about it.  I made it up.  Not really.  It's so many years of working with veggies and reading recipes that I've probably seen this a million times.  If I take credit for it then I feel weird but I don't know who to credit it to.  Dilemma.  However, it turned out so well last week when I made it the first time that D told me it needed to be on the blog.  Blog-worthy.
Once declared Blog-worthy, I decided that so-said-so-done and got the ingredients in my food box again.  The best news is that it's still all Ontario veggies so I don't feel conflicted about this like I did with the peach muffins.  When I made it for the second time I wasn't sure how it would turn out (again) because I hadn't really paid much attention to how I did things the first time.  I think that even though I pulled this out of my proverbial ass, it has turned out well.  D said so.


Eggplant, Pepper and Sausage Sauce
serves 6

1 med/lg eggplant (about 7 cups total) diced into 1 inch cubes
1/2 onion (or 1 shallot), thinly sliced
2 peppers (red, orange or yellow), deseeded and thinly sliced
2 lg cloves garlic, crushed
1 lb sausage (I used honey garlic), coarsely chopped
2 lg tomato, diced small
liberal amounts of oil
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp each, oregano, basil, rosemary
2 tsp salt
generous pinch of pepper
dash of pepper sauce (optional)

Heat a large wok or dutch oven over medium heat until almost smoking.
Turn the heat down a little and add a generous amount of oil.  Throw in half of the diced eggplant.  Saute in the oil until the batch is nicely golden and is soft.  Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate or dish and continue with the other half of the eggplant.  Once done, set the whole thing aside.
Add a little more oil to the pot.  Throw in the sliced peppers.  Toss around for a couple of minutes.
Add in the garlic and toss around for another couple of minutes.
Add in the worcestershire sauce and soy sauce (and pepper sauce if you are so inclined) and cook the peppers for another 2 - 3 minutes.
Add the chopped sausage.
Cook together for about 5 minutes or until the sausage pieces are beginning to look cooked through.
Add in the tomatoes.  Stir well and cook together for another 5 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low and add the honey, oregano, basil, rosemary and salt.  Stir.
Add the eggplant back in and mix well.
Simmer for about 45 minutes on low or until the eggplant disintegrates completely.
Serve with egg noodles or pasta and maybe throw on some grated parmesan for good measure.

That moment when you are about to write a blog post because something, some silly little thing, inspired you and then you realise that you haven't typed in the recipe yet.  Yup.  Sunk.  I only typed in part of the recipe.  The easy part.  My Heart sinks.
You see, this recipe has been kinda doomed since the beginning.  To start with, I really didn't have enough peaches.  I should have used fresh ones.  It would be best with fresh ones.  Then you look at the muffins with all of that muesli on top and they look too damn healthy.  You know, all of that doomed crap.  We were all underwhelmed by them.  They wanted to be more, they wanted to be spiced and spruced.  Add in a dash of cinnamon and cardamom or something exciting.  If you're a food blogger then you can go ahead and do that for me.  Post the recipe and you can say that you 'adapted' your recipe from me.  That would be cool.  You have my permission.  The one thing that these muffins were is fluffy.  I tried a half of one.  Kid #1 had a whole one.  Done.  I contemplated taking them to work but then I didn't feel like 'cause I only want to share with people I like and that can get kind of sticky.  So they just got eaten ridiculously slowly and then not eaten at all.
Then I saw these adorable pictures from this other blogger who posted peach muffins.  Which is cool because our muffins are different (whatever) and yeah, that totally happens in the blogosphere.  And her pictures make me think that maybe I should put cute little bears or butterflies in my pictures.  I'm completely rethinking my photo focus and feeling super second rate... maybe balloons would be nice.

Not an adorable plastic pig in sight.

Let's not even talk about how it's not really even peach season anymore.  Fresh peaches are a thing of the past here.  This gets me feeling super depressed that I haven't canned one single thing this year.  Not one.  Nothing.  Truth is, I can't face it.  The thought of doing 4 bushels of tomatoes is making me want to leave my lunch in the toilet.  But it still doesn't prevent me from feeling the loss and failure of leaving it out of my life completely.  D has given me permission to let it go - he doesn't think that I get an F for buying canned tomatoes this year.  That's a relief.  So, there it is.  Bye Bye peach season.
Then my weekend was a total write-off.  Ended up having to work.  Ended up being a single parent.  Ended up seeing a friend go into the hospital with an emergency brain aneurysm.  Ended up feeling ridiculously sorry for myself.  Ended up looking for therapists online.  So by 10pm Sunday night when I really only had that tiny little morsel of inspiration to go on, the floor dropped out from under me when I realised that I still needed to type in the recipe instructions.   I keep telling myself to type it all in when I first make it so that it's all done.  You never go back to it later... or you hate yourself when you do.  And yet, here I am again.
So I'm deciding that life is short and if I'm going get all up in my freak about this then I'd better just have a beer and go to bed which will definitely help with depression.  I'll call the therapist in the morning.

Oh Look - a piece of peach.

If you happen to live somewhere that is still experiencing fresh peaches.  If you happen to be someone who canned peaches and would like some ideas on how to use them up.  Hell, if you froze a few peach slices... then try this out.  Make sure you have enough peaches.

Muesli... yawn

Peach Muffins with Muesli Streusel adapted from Baking Bites
Makes about 14 lg muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
4 egg whites (or 1 more egg if you don't have egg whites handy)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups peaches (frozen or fresh), skins peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes and tossed in a tbsp or two of flour.

Topping
3/4 cup muesli or granola (no sugar)or oats
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350° F
Line between 12 and 14 muffin cups with liners and set aside.
Combine both the flours, baking powder and salt together.  Mix and set aside.
Whip the egg whites (if using) until semi-stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes or so depending on what you are using to whip them).  Set aside.
In a large bowl combine both of the sugars and the egg (or 2 if you are not using egg whites).  Whip together until fluffy.  Add in the milk and melted butter.  Whisk until well mixed.  Add the vanilla and mix.
Add the flour mixture to the sugar and egg mixture.  Whisk until the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.  If using egg whites, gently fold them in until they are well incorporated.  Gently fold in the peaches.
Fill each muffin cup to the brim.

Combine all of the topping ingredients together.  Sprinkle on top of each unbaked muffin tin.
Bake the muffins for about 25 - 30 minutes or until they're turning golden on the sides and a cake tester comes out of the middle muffin cup clean.
Cool and eat.