Unexpected gifts of joy

A friend gave me three peaches, which she had received from an entity called The Peach Truck. A good peach is a precious gift.   I waited two days and then cut up one of the peaches into my morning porridge*.  Deeeelicious.  I saved one peach for the Common Household Husband, who is suspicious of fresh fruit not being up to his standards.  This one was.

Late last week I had, in a fit of ambition, bought a pint of fresh blueberries.  And then lost the ambition and didn’t do anything with them for three days.  Didn’t even add them to my porridge.

On Tuesday I was so glum at having to spend megabucks to fix my car (the biggest cost was for the parts, which makes me wonder if tariffs played a role) that I just had to bake something.  What could I make with one peach and a pint of blueberries?  A pie!

No.  One doesn’t make a pie when one is bereft of ambition.  

Peach Quickbread, enhanced with Blueberry.  Yes.  Easy peasy.  I have a half-recipe for peach bread which makes the right amount for just me (the CHH no longer eats things made from refined flour; I, however, would go insane if I tried to make it through our current times without refined flour).  

I hauled the all-purpose flour from the top shelf and found there was only ½ cup of it.  The project suddenly became less than easy peasy.  The only other flours in the house were old bread flour, old whole wheat flour, and old cake flour.  Oh, and self-rising flour, which the CHH bought when I asked him to buy all-purpose flour 8 months ago.  I found that the self-rising flour has an unpleasant metallic taste.   

The internet advised me to add a little extra cake flour to substitute for all-purpose flour.  My flour measurements were imprecise (which seems appropriate for our era, in which nobody wants to count or measure anything, even items and people of importance), but joyful (it felt really good to be baking).  

All people are of importance and ought to count.  This is a very difficult thing for our society to carry out.

The Common Household Husband arrived home while I was in the middle of my little project, and in shock said, “WHAT are you DOING?” because I haven’t baked anything in months. He wisely announced he was leaving the kitchen for safer territory.  Good.

There was almost too much batter
for my little loaf pans.

The original peach bread recipe calls for a glaze, but the unambitious baker opts to scrounge around and find the decorator sugar instead, you know, the kind with bigger crystals than table sugar.  Ain’t nobody got energy to make glaze, I mean, come on!

It turned out okay, I think.  And it’s stored in the freezer, pre-cut, for me to enjoy when glum times ahead call for a taste of summer.  I am grateful, even joyful, for the gift of three delicious peaches, the old cake flour, and the unambition to bake two tiny loaves.

* Steel-cut oatmeal.  My uncle, who was Canadian, called it porridge, and so do I sometimes, in remembrance of him, and of all things Canadian.  The very existence of Canada gives me hope.

Still life of peach-blueberry bread 
with sweet onion

Easy Peach Bread, recipe ingredients halved, 

to make 1 8x4 loaf or 2 3x6 loaves.

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

½  tsp baking soda

½   tsp baking powder

½   tsp salt

½   tsp ground cinnamon

¼  tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

½  cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar + 2 Tbsp

1.5 eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 15-oz can diced peaches in juice, drained and juice reserved (OR about 1 ¼ cups fresh peeled and chopped peaches) - up to 1 ½ cups of fruit.

Glaze ingredients: 2 TBSP peach juice, ¼ tsp vanilla extract, ½ cup powdered sugar

Optional, if not using glaze. - decorator’s sugar (coarse sugar)

On July 23, made with a fresh peach given to me by S.M, and fresh blueberries from the grocery store. 

I didn't use the mixer. I had to use some cake flour because I didn’t have enough all purpose

flour.  I used 2 eggs because 1.5 eggs is a pain.  I used ¾ cup diced peach, and ¾ cup

blueberries for a total of 1 ½ cups.  It was almost too much fruit.  Sprinkled

decorator’s sugar on top before baking.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease two 6x3" loaf pans (or one 8x4 pan).

2. If using canned peaches, drain the juice, reserving it if you plan to make the glaze.

3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and (nutmeg). Set aside.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together vegetable oil and sugar on medium speed.  (Forget all that.  I stirred everything with a fork or a wooden spoon.)

5. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

6. Add vanilla extract and diced peaches, mixing to combine.

7. With the mixer still on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until fully incorporated.

8. Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. While the bread is cooling, prepare the glaze, if using. Begin by adding 2 TBSP peach juice and vanilla extract to the powdered sugar, whisking well. Add more juice as needed to achieve your desired consistency. Drizzle over bread that is still warm.

The original recipe for Easy Peach Bread.