I have a new fruit obsession: peaches!

I used to despise them. My sister was always eating them growing up — the dripping, the stickiness, the smell, the weird fuzz on the outside. Why would I want that when I could have a fruit I already knew was delicious and safe (like APPLES)? And less drippy.

Last week, I was at my new favorite market, City Fresh, and the first thing that caught my eye was a mound of beautiful, plump peaches. I had to try a few. I bought two, thinking I could pawn them off at work if I didn’t like them.

Then it happened — I bit into the crispy, not-so-juicy (and still a little fuzzy) fruit I’d always hated. I was hooked.

This past Sunday, as I did my shopping, I bought three pounds at 49¢ a pound. It was too good to be true for my new addiction!

While reading through Bon Appétit this week, I realized the wonderful new cooking opportunities this opened. Fortunately, the August issue had a whole section of peach recipes, and one that caught my eye was Roasted Peaches with Amaretti Crumble.

My husband is allergic to coconut, so macaroons were out. I tweaked it to make an almond crumble instead — and it was a hit with our neighbors who came over for dessert!

Well, here’s to my first post. Bon Appétit!

🖨 Print Recipe

Roasted Peaches with Almond Crumble 🍨

Recipe by: Cindy Mushet — adapted from Bon Appétit, August 2009

Ingredients

• 5 amaretti cookies (Italian macaroons; about ¾ oz total)
• (I used double the almonds instead)
• 3 tablespoons whole natural almonds
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1½ tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 3 firm but ripe large peaches, rinsed, wiped clean of fuzz, halved, and pitted
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish.
2. Combine cookies, almonds, flour, and sugar in a food processor. Using on/off turns, process until the cookies and almonds are coarsely chopped.
3. Add the chilled butter and pulse until the mixture forms moist clumps.
4. Place peach halves, cut side up, in the prepared dish. Spread topping over the surface of each peach half (about 1 generous tablespoon each), pressing lightly to adhere and leaving a ¼-inch plain border.
5. Bake until the peaches are tender when pierced with a knife and the topping is golden brown — about 35 minutes.
6. Cool slightly. Transfer one warm roasted peach half to each of six plates and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside.

Well, hello.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Alicia, and I'm addicted to cooking. I live in Chicago with my husband in our small one-bedroom apartment near North Park University, where he’s studying for his Master's in Christian Formation.

Like all good seminary wives, I work full-time to support my husband’s grad school stint and come home to perform wife-ly duties for the remaining four hours of the day after work and commuting. The wifely duties aren’t as bad as they may seem — cleaning, doing laundry, making the bed, reorganizing our small library of books that live under our coffee table, and so on.

But the one duty I love the most: the grocery store.

I’m one of the few people who can say I enjoy grocery shopping. I’ve even, on occasion, happily offered to shop for friends, family, and coworkers. They think I’m nuts.

The grocery store, on any given night, could mean many things to the average shopper — long lines, bad produce, overpriced items, packed parking lots, etc. But not to me. The grocery store, to me, is therapy. Don’t ask me why. I could go every night if I could.

This leads to the cooking aspect. Ever since I started cooking for myself in college, I’ve been an addict. I love to look at a recipe, head to the store (obviously), and pick up the goods.

This is where my blog comes in. With all this experimenting and tasting, why not document it? Hopefully, you enjoy my recipes, my bravery to try new things, and join me on the journey!