At my local farmers market almost every booth has white peaches. I love the flavor of them and try to incorporate them into many dishes over the summer. There is nothing like going to the market, supporting local growers and coming home to create new dishes.

Last year I discovered a great recipe by Bobby Flay, Grilled Chicken with Peaches. The recipe has a flavor packed sauce to baste both the chicken and peaches with. I had a few leftover peaches and used them in a salad.

So this morning I made up a batch of the sauce, grilled a few peaches and made a tasty salad for lunch. You could make the sauce and peaches earlier in the day and put the salad together at the last minutes.

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Today I decided to make a pizza using some of the veggies I had left over from the week. At Pizzeria Mozza, my favorite restaurant in LA, they make this goat cheese pizza with caramelized shallots, leeks, garlic and bacon. I decided to make my own version.

Nothing can compare to Nancy Silverton’s dough so I don’t even try. I was opting for quick and easy so I used the Trader Joe’s dough. It is easy for that spur of the moment urge to cook! I had some bacon so I cooked up a couple of pieces to crumble over the top.

I caramelized the shallots and garlic in a small saute pan. I roasted a red pepper over my grill pan. You can use whatever vegetables in your frig. You could also grill this outside on your barbeque.

Serve as an appetizer or with a salad for a quick and easy meal.

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It is officially summer and I love the foods of summer. Yesterday I went to my farmers market and stocked up on some great fruit and veggies for the week.

I just came back from a trip to Mexico which was lovely and relaxing. I will have to tell you more about the food and restaurants I checked out later. Wanting to keep the tropical feeling going awhile longer I made a batch of Pineapple Stir Fried RIce. I wish I could remember where I originally came across this recipe so that I could give proper credit but it is so good. The combination of the ingredients make for an explosion of flavor in your mouth. It is crunchy, spicy and sweet all at the same time.

It is great topped with grilled shrimp or alongside grilled fish or chicken. You can chop up all the ingredients ahead of time and then it only takes a few minutes to put together.

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Another Tuesdays with Dorie and this week Di from Di’s Kitchen selected French Chocolate Brownies. Chocolate…how can you wrong. My camera is not working so I don’t have a picture. I am hoping to post one tomorrow but in the meantime check out some of the other TWD sites.

I decided to skip the raisins and rum but tried the cinnamon. It gave the brownies a nice underlying flavor. I also just melted the butter and chocolate together which is quick and less likely to overheat the chocolate.

Luckily I have a meeting to go to tomorrow night. The last thing I need a week before a trip to Mexico is a plate of brownies!

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You might notice for those with Internet Explorer that the big black ugly bar is gone. Thanks Leslie for helping me out!

So today’s post is a Tuesdays With Dorie from two weeks back, when the big black bar appeared. The challenge was Madeleines and this time I was determined to get this right. A few months ago I bought one of those soft, silicone pans. It did not go well. The madeleines did not come out easy and left their skin behind.

So off to Sur La Table to purchase a metal pan. It was sort of funny because the clerk kept saying these are really hard to make. They are so easy to make. I hope you will all give them a try. I am anxious to try a few other flavors and play around a bit.

The group Tuesdays with Dorie was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. You can check it out here.

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I was excited to see Diane from Diane Dishes select Florida Pie for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie. I love key lime pie and limes so I knew this would be good.

It was pretty easy but my crust didn’t seem to come together. I think I needed more butter to bind it together and clearly I wasn’t watching the broiler action close enough!

The pie is in the freezer waiting to be taken to work in the morning. Check out the other entries for the week.

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I know, I have been away for awhile. Work sort of sidelined my blogging and cooking time. But I have a new little favorite to share with you.

After working all day I want to come home and make something quick. I saw Giada cooking a Fusilli Caprese Pasta and it gave me the inspiration to switch it up a bit. I used fresh angel hair pasta and bought some of those super sweet tomatoes. Instead of regular mozzarella I used burrata cheese. It is softer so instead of dicing I spooned it out. I also added a little kick with pepper flakes and deepened the flavor of the sauce with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

It is so flavorful and you can make it in minutes!

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Another Tuesday and another Dorie recipe. This week Caitlin of Engineer Baker chose Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake.

The great thing about these challenges is that I am trying new recipes. In the original recipe it calls for figs. Well, if you know how picky of an eater I am, you know those went out of the recipe. I made a simple polenta and ricotta cake.

It is very easy to pull together and came out very tasty. I think next time I would add a bit more lemon and throw in a bit of chopped fresh rosemary. I added a few raspberries, but I would top with a dollop of whipping cream too!

Check out the Tuesday With Dorie entries here.

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For this months Daring Bakers Challenge Elle and Deborah selected Cheesecake Pops. They are little cheesecake morsels on a stick, dipped in chocolate and decorated how you wish.

They are very rich and they would have to be served straight out of the freezer. I fear they would fall off the stick on a warm day, as it is today, in the OC. The cheesecake was easy to make but I the dipping was a bit of a struggle. I added some pink sugar to pretty them up, plus it added a bit of a crunch to the bite.

Check out some of the other Daring Bakers here.

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So I am back from my business trip and it is another Tuesday with Dorie.  This week   Amanda  from slow like honey selected Bill’s Big Carrot Cake.  I have never understood carrot cake - I like my desserts veggie free but I was up for the challenge.

The recipe was super easy to put together and was soon in the oven.  I  cut the recipe in half and used two small pans.  Because I cut it in half I had to keep checking it at ten minute intervals to keep from overcooking.

Tasting it after cutting the cakes, I was very surprised at how delicious it was.

I did not use coconut in either the cake or the frosting.  I toasted some walnuts and put around the outside, mostly to cover my inadequate frosting skills.

It was Ashley’s birthday so I brought it to work in celebration of her big day.  My co-workers loved it and hopefully you will too.

Go over to Tuesdays with Dorie and check out all the other variations.  I am always amazed at the creativity of my fellow bakers.

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