Squeezing in the Goodness

As summer winds down

August is in full swing and though the hot, humid weather makes it hard to notice, I feel a slow shift, a different undercurrent running below the surface. As we walk at the park, the landscape that earlier lay neat and tidy now grows up and out, disheveled and slightly out of control. Long tall grasses sway, heavy with seed, and vining plants reach out, curled around tree trunks. The prairie path that once was barely visible is now bordered by a tall hedge of sumac, standing vigilant, keeping us hemmed in on either side. The goldenrod and ragweed bend toward the afternoon sun, their plume of yellow flowers glowing. 

The animals seem to know that a change is coming as well. We see them more frequently but they acknowledge our passage only briefly as they return to their eating and hunting, focused on the immediate goal of storing up food.

Despite the heat, I find myself sniffing the occasional breeze. Can I sense it yet, that tiny taste of cooler, drier air that will be here before I know it?

As August unfolds, I’m having that moment of trying to do and finish all of the things. It’s what summer is all about. Trying to squeeze in all the goodness into those extra hours of daylight.

Yesterday, I made a special Belgian dessert for a family gathering in Michigan: Merveilleux, they are called, because they are marvelous. Light as air meringue combined with light as air whipped cream, finished with a dusting of chocolate. After our return from the family gathering, in the late hours of the afternoon, we knew that the pickling cucumbers in the refrigerator couldn’t sit any longer. So Jim brought the canner up from the basement and I made the pickling syrup and we proceeded to can 18 pints of pickles as night descended and the day came to a close. Today, there’s bread to bake and peaches to use up. I’ll make my most recent favorite peach dessert.

A few leaves fall here, a summer flowering plant curls up there, the time to put away food for the cold season is now. In the next few weeks, I’ll notice more changes as summer slowly winds down and brings us relief from the heat and from the long daylight hours that push us to get it all done. In the meantime, I’ll be canning tomatoes, trimming the hedge, watering the plants, hosting another outdoor get together and spending some quality time outside while the cicada and katydid choirs outdo themselves. 

Here’s the peach dessert recipe, if you want to make it.

Peach Cornmeal Skillet Cake

For the topping:

3 peaches, sliced thinly 

2 T. raw sugar

For the cake:

⅔ c. flour

⅓ c. cornmeal (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

⅓ t. sea salt 

½ c. plus 2 t. butter, room temperature

1 c. sugar

2 eggs, room temperature 

2 T. soft goat cheese

¼ c. vanilla Greek yogurt

1 t. vanilla extract 

Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat the oven 350°. Let the skillet warm up for 5 minutes at full temperature.

Mix the flour, cornmeal and salt in a small bowl; set aside. 

Beat ½ c. butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the sugar, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until mixed in. Crumble in the goat cheese and beat until combined. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until combined. Add yogurt and extract, beating until combined.

Carefully remove skillet from oven and add the remaining 2 t. of butter. Swirl skillet until butter is melted and coats the bottom and sides. Pour in batter and smooth into the pan. Arrange the fresh peach slices artfully on the batter and sprinkle with the raw sugar. Bake in the oven for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly. Serve warm with a dollop of fresh fruit or whipped cream or ice cream.