Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Daring to Eat a Peach (Cobbler)


(Photo Credit, Food Prep, and Point Calculation: Moose, 8/2/11)

Longtime readers know how much we love the peach cobbler recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook. You might -- or might not -- have been wondering how we were going to get through peach season without indulging in a treat so delicious Moose says it produces a response similar to Meg Ryan's famous scene in When Harry Met Sally. The first few weeks of the season, Moose had been experimenting with LAP-approved crisp recipes that were delicious and happy-making, if not quite, well, orgasmic. What can I say, people? Quaker oats and agave nectar are super cute but not, you know, sexy.

This past Sunday, though, the peaches were so stupendously beautiful that Moose began to dream about her old flame, peach cobbler, the one with two-thirds of a cup of actual sugar, not to mention white flour and vegetable shortening! And -- here's the truly orgasmic part -- topped off with whipped cream (right there!) spiked with peach (oooooh!) brandy (yes!). Goose seemed to be thinking about it, too, and got a little misty-eyed when Moose indicated it might not fit into the household's new food plan. "Oh," Goose said, "OK." [Translation: I have been with you for 27 years and know I need to express support for your ludicrous position while also conveying the slightest bit of disappointment. That way, when your position shifts -- and I know it will --, I get points for being willing to forego pleasure for your sake -- and I get the cobbler, too!]

Goose got her cobbler -- and several relationship points for epic forbearance over the course of the past six months. She's been a trooper, but how, you may or may not be wondering, did Moose come around to the idea of making -- and eating -- a dish that contains all those sinfully delicious ingredients? Is the virtue binge over? Has she fallen off the wagon and returned to the kind of mindless, decadent eating that got her into her middle-aged funk?

Hardly, darlings. Moose woke up Tuesday morning, stepped on the scale, and saw that she was still losing weight rather than merely maintaining it, which is the goal now. This whole clean living thing can get a little addictive, you know, especially for a girl who finds it hard to believe that what she sees in the mirror is real. Anyhoo, she came downstairs, used her LAP's recipe builder to calculate the points per serving for the glorious peach cobbler, and sent Goose to the store to get heavy cream. "I love you, honey," she said, "and there is room in my life for an 11-point treat. Get asparagus, too. We won't be having carbs at dinner tonight."

So, see, it wasn't a lapse or a sin or an instance of being bad. It was a conscious choice, an instance of eating mindfully and well. Resulting in a happy little food orgasm and a week's worth of motivation to keep racking up activity points. Step aside, kid. That is MY treadmill for the next 45 minutes. I've got a date with the sweetest cobbler on dog's earth, and you're in my way!

Feel free to weigh in, as it were, with your own summer food delights. What are the treats that get you, um, going?

By the way, if you missed it, WaPo had a couple of good pieces on aging well in yesterday's "Health and Science" section. Here's one on a 62-year-old guy who has stayed remarkably young looking just by being consistent in his commitment to a pretty sane and simple set of health and fitness habits. One expert quoted in the story estimates that after 50 how you age is about 30% a matter of genetics and 70% a matter of lifestyle and behavior. The good news here is that moderation works. You don't have to work out seven days a week and forego booze and, you know, peach cobbler in order to live long and well. Moderate exercise and a diet low in saturated fats will do the trick. Oh, and not smoking, of course, but you knew that. Here's another article on older athletes that focuses on injuries and how to avoid them. Also helpful.

In other news, the United States narrowly avoided fiscal disaster yesterday, but no one seems too happy with how things worked out. Gosh, kids, do you think this deal would taste better if we could throw a dollop of whipped cream spiked with peach brandy on it? Yeah, me neither.

Peace out, my pretties, and may your day be sweet as an August peach.

6 comments:

  1. Goose here to weigh in with the assessment that the peach cobbler was MORE FANTASTIC THAN EVER and that "forbearance" is really not the right word for my role as a companion on Moose's LAP. Her LAP proves that one need not deprive herself in order to lose weight. One can eat, DRINK, and be merry. Just count points, plan menus, and EXERCISE!

    Love from the ever well fed Goose

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  2. GlassPen1:38 PM EDT

    wow! you could pretty well taste the cobbler by just looking at the picture. moderation would be the hard part in this case!

    since it's a peach theme, i'll toss in my childhood favorite, my grandmother's frozen peaches. as far as I could ever tell, the recipe consisted of cutting up a lot of very ripe peaches and layering them in a plastic tub...pouring heavy cream over them to fill in the cracks...and freezing. there might have been a little vanilla (or, potentially, peach brandy) and a little powdered sugar mixed into the cream...though those were peaches from Gillespie County, Texas (around Stonewall), and i'm not at all sure that any sugar was needed or used. it was, well, peachy!

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  3. Fucke peach cobbler. Gimme some motherfucken CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. Mmmmmmm, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting -- I'm getting a Meg Ryan feeling just thinking about it!

    And those frozen peaches sound pretty yummy, too. Any recipe that involves a tub gets a paws up from me.

    Glad that Goose has weighed in to let the world know she hasn't exactly suffered any deprivation these past several months. Seems to me she's been eating pretty well. And she has a hot, happy girlfriend!

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  5. That looks fantastic and decadent! Wish I had some good peaches hereabouts but I'll have to settle for homemade strawberry shortcake which relies on white sugar, real butter and white flour for a guilty pleasure punch. (Why not? I've walked the dogs, vacuumed the entire house and run a bunch of errands!)

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  6. Go for it, Janice. Strawberry season is a distant memory in this part of the world, but strawberry shortcake is a house favorite -- particularly as a reward for dog-walking!

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