Sunday, July 27, 2008

A peach festivel gone astray

I'm shocked. Appalled and downright saddened. Why you may ask?
The Knott's Island Peach Festival has no peaches from North Carolina. I mean, if you are going to have a peach festival in North Carolina, you shouldn't ship in 6,250 pounds (an exact number) of peaches from South Carolina, it just isn't right.
Maybe it's my Texas pride coming out, but no county or city in my home state would ship in peaches from "the outside" for a festival. It would be an abomination. It's unheard of. I'm ranting, but still.
What happened to a festival, celebrating the local crop that has sustained that town for years?
Add to this that the pies came from Sam's Club, no telling where the ice cream came from (it didn't have much of a peach taste, anyways). My hopes and expectations were crushed. My thoughts of getting a pie crust or peach pie recipe were fleeting because I soon realized that I was not going to get any.
Defeated, I walked away. I could get South Carolina peaches at any farm stand around. What then to do?
I went home on the ferry, a very disappointed. My first peach festival and the peaches weren't even regional.
However, the next day, I went to an orchard where I picked peaches (there is peaches on the island at a winery, but not enough to supply the festival, i guess). The woman told me that many had hail damage to them, but I decided to pick a few anyways.
All had hail damage, bugs, or were rotting on the ground. I was able to find some soft with no bugs to bring home with me. I then, took them cleaned them, mixed them with blueberries, and made cobbler.
The cobbler was wonderful. Though I am more of a pie person, I think it is the crunch with the crust. But still this was quick and easy, plus a lot less work.
Blueberry and Peach Cobbler
(adapting from Eating Well)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
cinnamon and nutmeg
3 ripe but firm peaches (about 1 pound), pitted and sliced into eighths, or 3 1/2 cups frozen
2 cups (1 pint) fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place butter and oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Heat in the oven until melted and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, sugar and vanilla; stir to combine. Add the melted butter mixture to the batter and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the hot pan. Spoon peaches and blueberries evenly over the batter. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the top of the cobbler is browned and the batter around the fruit is completely set, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm.

3 comments:

Michelle said...

I was at a Strawberry Festival in MI and all the berries were Driscoll, straight out of CA!

Now I laugh about it but I was so homesick for some MI berries and I was so disappointed.

Natalie Que said...

That cobbler looks tasty! Seriously, I might just have to have some.

Thanks so much for your comment on my blog!

Pam said...

I love cobbler and the blueberry and peach combination looks fantastic.