A friend of mine whose parents have a beautiful orchard and garden on their place invited us over to pick peaches, apples, and tomatoes the other day.  We (along with several other friends) enjoyed the afternoon picking fresh homegrown produce and brought home a bountiful harvest.  

When we were driving away, I realized that I had a teachable moment to talk about being thankful with the boys so we said a quick prayer of thankfulness.    

As the peaches have been ripening, there has been an invasion by a small army of fruit flies so I made another homemade fruit fly trap tonight which should do the trick.  

This recipe is condensed from a Ball Blue Book that my mother-in-law bought me.  The Ball Blue book is really helpful because it is for food preserving beginners like me and is easy to follow.  I used the sugar pack method for freezing peaches which is super easy.  

First, you wash and drain ripe fruit.  Next, peel, pit, and slice the fruit.  

Then mix together 2/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp. Fruit-Fresh.  Sprinkle 1 quart sliced peaches with the sugar mixture.  Toss gently to coat.  

Allow this to sit until sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes.  

Ladle fruit and syrup into freezer containers or freezer bags leaving some space for expansion.  Recommendation is 1/2 inch for freezer containers.  Label containers with date and contents then freeze.  

This picture is from a few years ago before I knew anything about photographing for a blog.   I used a Nordic Ware pan that I purchased at Meijer for the train cake.  

Here are my notes:  I made a large chocolate sheet cake and a vanilla train cake.  I used dowel rods to help secure the train cake to the chocolate cake.  The cake is frosted with chocolate buttercream frosting and vanilla buttercream frosting.  My three year old insisted that the train had to have a face like Thomas so I made a face out of gum paste and brushed it with silver dust.  He also wanted smoke coming from the smokestack so I cut up a large Campfire marshmallow and sprayed it lightly with black coloring spray.  

I made this cake several years ago for my son's second birthday.  It was a lot of fun to make.

I carved the dog shape out of cake that I had baked in a dutch oven.  I frosted it in buttercream frosting using an icing tip that I could drag to make it look like hair.  I made the eyes and nose out of gum paste.  I covered the icecream cone hat with gum paste to resemble a party hat.

Looks like I made a tail and a bump for the head out of gum paste too.  (I have a very pregnant belly in this picture.)  That little guy is almost 4 already.  

We really enjoyed this simple recipe for chicken caprese.  The flavor blends are wonderful and it's a great use for tomatoes from the garden.  We enjoyed our first tomato of the season in this recipe.  Truly delicious!  Adapted from Parenting Miracles.

Ingredients:

•  3-4 large chicken breasts 

•  1/2 cup Italian dressing or vinaigrette

•  olive oil

•  9 oz. bag fresh spinach leaves

•  1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

•  1/2 teaspoon basil

2-3 tomatoes, sliced into 1/4″ slices

•  4 oz. mozzarella, shredded (about 1 cup)

•  salt

•  freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1.  Slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise so they are thin and flat.  Marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing or vinaigrette for a couple of hours or more. 

2. Heat enough oil to coat a large skillet.  Turn pan to coat.  Cook the chicken over med-high heat.  Cook chicken breasts on each side until golden and cooked through.  While chicken is cooking, salt and pepper each side.  Transfer chicken to an oven safe dish.

3. Heat 1T. olive oil in the same skillet and add spinach, basil, and garlic powder. Turn gently until wilted.

4. Layer tomato slices on top of chicken.  I used two tomato slices for each chicken breast.  Top with a generous mound of wilted spinach and a small handful of shredded mozzarella.  Salt and pepper as desired.

5. Place chicken under the broiler to melt the cheese, about a minute.