I got a huge basket of peaches for just $14 while we were driving through South Carolina last weekend.  They had been fresh-picked Sunday morning! Love, love, love fresh peaches, but of course, these have all ripened within a day or two, so I’ve had to get busy using them! Here’s what I’ve been doing:

• Freezing them, with great directions here.  I hope to freeze some in 1 cup bags for muffins,
• A peach pie, from Betty Crocker (be warned, sound on this page)
• The most delicious, moist peach muffins from this recipe (And the comments say that any muffin recipe can be made into waffles!  How awesome is that?  Believe me… I’ve got a lot of great muffin recipes that would be fun to try as waffles, especially these peach ones!)
• Homemade Peach Ice Cream (to be made today, I hope)
• Peach Frozen Yogurt (awesome recipe I fell in love with last year)
• Maybe this Breakfast Peach Couscous recipe…

A few other ideas from my Google Bookmarks file…

• Peach & Maple Sour Cream Pie
• Peach Oatmeal Muffins
• These Single Serve Pies look so awesome, and I’d love to try them with peaches.

Man oh man… so much going on here.  Summer is totally wearing me out.  Overnight Girl Scout camp with Analise on Friday, birthday parties for both kiddos last week, Girl Scout Day Camp everyday this week (including 1.5+ hours in the car each day!), getting ready to leave for St. Louis/Wisconsin/Minnesota on Friday…We won’t mention the state of my house in the crazy life!!

BUT!  These muffins were the PERFECT choice for one of my favorite ways to spend a morning… with a favorite friend, drinking coffee, chatting over the crazy chaos that is 4 boys playing.  These are DELICIOUS, and they absolutely need a nice cup of coffee or tea with them.  And a good friend

Doughnut Muffins by King Arthur Flour (the source of all my favorite baking products, flour and recipes!!) Click over for a picture!

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspon vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup milk

Topping

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 tablespoons Cinnamon-Sugar Plus or cinnamon sugar

1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.

2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth.

3) Add the eggs, beating to combine.

4) Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla.

5) Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.

6) Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.

7) Bake the muffins for 17 to 20 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown.

Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. While they’re cooling, melt the butter for the topping (this is easily done in the microwave).

9) Use a pastry brush to paint the top of each muffin with the butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Or simply dip the tops of muffins into the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar.

10) Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Store for a day or so at room temperature.

Yield: 12 muffins.

It’s unbelievable that I haven’t ever posted this recipe. It’s a highly requested and anticipated dessert at Clearwater Community Church events.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I make it probably 3x a month, sometimes once or twice a week, depending on what events our schedule holds. It is fail-proof. Seriously moist, and super-chocolatey, without being too rice. Be sure to have a gallon of milk on hand to wash it down. And some friends who’ve taken leftovers might have mentioned having it for breakfast, and I might or might not have tried that myself

I’m linking to one of my favorite blogs, The Motherload, who is hosting the Glad to Give Virtual Bake Sale. She’s got a great recipe posted for Honey Nut Granola, and there are plenty of other great bake sale treats linked on her page. Click on over!  (**And if you were going to make this Darn Good Chocolate Cake for a bake sale, wrap it in Saran Wrap and sell it whole, or cut it into big chunks, and bag it up on small paper plates.)

Back to the best (and easiest!) chocolate cake you’ll ever make or…

Darn Good Chocolate Cake from The Cake Mix Doctor

• Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
• Flour for dusting the pan
• 1 pkg (18.25 oz plain devil’s food or chocolate fudge cake mix (preferably NOT the pudding-in-the-mix kind)
• 1 pkg (3.9 oz) chocolate instant pudding
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan.

Place cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, warm water, and oil in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with a mixer on low for 1 min. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl, and increase mixer speed to medium for 2-3 more minutes.  Batter should be thick and well combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Pour into prepared pan, smoothing out top.

Bake 45-50 min, until cake springs back when lightly touched, and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from oven, cool on wire rack for 20 min.  Invert onto rack or plate to cool completely.  Serve on a gorgeous cake plate, and dust with powdered sugar for a perfectly fancy (and crazy easy) dessert.  Or better yet, serve while warm.  It doesn’t even need vanilla ice cream.

Not a great name for this tasty salad, so leave me any suggestions you have!

Asian Slaw

• 1/4 c butter
• 1 pkg ramen noodles, broken into small pieces (toss the flavor packet)
• 1/2 c slivered almonds
• 1/2 c sunflower seeds

Melt butter in a skillet.  Saute all until toasted and golden. (Be warned… turns the corner to burned very quickly!)

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 T vinegar
• 1/4 c. oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Shake or stir together.  Just before serving, toss noodle mixture and dressing with 1 bag of coleslaw mix.

*Would be fabulous with shredded or leftover chicken!

Thanks to Money Saving Mom for this delicious recipe! (Click over for her photo!) It’s a big batch, but great for freezing.  And don’t let the pumpkin turn you off… It’s just a sweet cake-y chocolate chip muffin with a hint of cinnamon.  Yum!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16 oz.) can pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups flour (half white whole wheat flour works great!)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips (mini chips would be perfect!)

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 1/2 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 24-30 muffins.