The First Few Days.....

Of married life is.....wonderful. We decided to stay in Bend so we could spend our honeymoon in Peggy and Mike's beautiful beach house in two weeks which they were so gracious to bless us with. Our little apartment here was home base for us. We take two alleyways that have adorable old cottages and huge trees and a single side street to get to downtown, a mere five minute walk from OUR HOUSE! ahh! God is so good to us!
We went to Alpenglow for breakfast and I ate these huge waffles covered in whipped cream and blackberries...mmmm. Kevin got some kind of egg omelette thingey with a bunch of veggies in it and the best home fries in bend. Yummy.

We rented movies and lounged around the house, went to Mom and Dads and opened presents there. Drank some finnegan beer with them and overall were just lazy. Then came the fun part....

I get laid off. The day before we get married technically...but I didn't find out until Tuesday cause they wanted to spare my emotions. Gee thanks guys...

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Skip forward to Wed the following week.

I really should never leave posts in draft forms. I never touch them again! Anyways, still on the job hunt. Trying to settle in the house and finish moving and search for a job and deal with the unemployment agency (grrr)

Highlights of this week have been Mom, Dad, Jon, Grandma and Grandpa coming over for dinner in our new "house" :) They were our guinea pigs and boy did we realize the things we are missing in our little flat....like chairs! and a table...lol! But it all worked out well. Made a bunch of new dishes which was exciting and they ALL turned out amazing! wow. I should do this more often :)
Heres the recipes cause it was all amazing:

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So the grilled peaches in this recipe were pretty much the highlight of dinner. I even impressed myself with this recipe....and Kevin's expert grilling skills helped too :)
We served this with bowtie pasta and buttered herbed corn from the wedding.

Grilled Chicken With Spicy Peach Glaze

Spicy Peach Glaze:
2 cups peach preserves or jam (We used fresh peaches cup up and then mashed)
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce (We subed a few splashes of hot sauce)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (We used Honey Mustard)
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
(We also added fresh basil, thyme and oregano from the garden)

8 Frenched" chicken breasts
4 ripe peaches, cut in half and pitted

Combine Spicy Peach Glaze ingredients in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Reserve 1/2 cup. Preheat grill. Brush the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place skin-side down and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, until golden brown. Turn over and continue cooking for 5 to 6 minutes. Brush both sides with the peach glaze and continue cooking an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Place peach halves, cut side down on the grill and grill for 2 minutes. Turn over and brush with the reserved 1/2 cup of peach glaze, grill for 3 to 4 more minutes until peaches are soft.

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Homemade Bread

This is my standby recipe. Its SO simple and always turns out a good loaf even if you have to speed up the dough by putting it in a warmed up oven.

4 1/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp fast action yeast
1 1/2 (ish) cups warm water

Mix flour and butter with fingertips breaking up into tiny balls. Add sugar, salt and yeast.

Gradually mix in enough water to make a soft dough.

Kneed well on floured surface 5 min or until dough is smooth and elastic. Put dough back into bowl, cover with oiled clingfilm and leave in warm place to rise 45 min or til double in size.

Pull out, kneed about 2 min just enough to pop air bubbles and get back to a less "fluffy" consistency.

Put into greased bread pan, recover with clingfilm. Allow to rise 30 min or til it reaches top of tin.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Smother with honey butter and consume :)

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Amazing dessert. Dont make it too often though or you can kiss your svelte figure goodbye!
I made a graham cracker crust instead of pastry and I think it made this dessert....everyone else agreed :)
I only had enough time to boil can for 1 hour not the 3 it recommends....I think it would set up better with the 3....it was a little runny and held better refrigerated the next day.

Banoffi Pie (originally known as Banoffee Pie), (to serve 8-10 people)

12 ounces uncooked shortcrust pastry
1.5 tins condensed milk (13.5 ounces each)
1.5 pounds firm bananas
375ml of double cream
Half a teaspoon powdered instant coffee
1 dessertspoon caster sugar
A little freshly ground coffee

Preparation
Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (400F, ). Lightly grease a 10in x 1.5in flan tin. Line this with the pastry thinly rolled out. Prick the base all over with a fork and bake blind until crisp. Allow to cool.

The secret of this delicious pudding lies in the condensed milk.Immerse the cans unopened in a deep pan of boiling water. Cover and boil for 3 hours making sure that the pan does not boil dry *(see CAUTION).

Remove the tin from the water and allow to cool completely before opening. Inside you will find the soft toffee filling.

Method
Whip the cream with the instant coffee and sugar until thick and smooth. Now spread the toffee over the base of the flan. Peel and halve the bananas lenghtways and lay them on the toffee.

Finally spoon or pipe on the cream and lightly sprinkle over the freshly ground coffee.

*CAUTION It is absolutely vital to top up the pan of boiling water frequently during the cooking of the cans. 3 hours is a long time and if they are allowed to boil dry the cans will explode causing a grave risk to life, limb and kitchen ceilings.

Hint - Banoffi is a marvellous "emergency" pudding once you have the toffee mixture in your store cupboard. We therefore suggest that you boil several cans at the same time as they keep unopened indefinitely.

Yummy....