Gold Medal Blueberry Nectarine Pie

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie  Blueberry Nectarine Pie recipe is an all around gold medal winner.  It scores a perfect ten on crust for buttery taste and flaky texture. It gets a ten on filling; the blueberries, lemon and nectarines pair together nicely.  The Presentation is a bit lacking.  What it lacks in presentation, however, it more than makes up for in taste.  Go to Tuesdays With Dorie for the recipe.  This recipe is a keeper.

I've Got Air Conditioning and I'm Not Afraid to Use it

This summer is one of the hottest summers on record.  The temperature in “my neck of the woods” today is a whopping ninety-five degrees.  If you add in the heat index, according to my local meteorologist, the temperature feels like it is in the one hundred degree range, and to prove his point, with the cameras still rolling, he fried an egg on the sidewalk. The blistering heat, however, did not deter the Tuesdays With Dorie/Baking With Julia bakers from firing up their ovens to make this week’s recipe, Semolina Bread.  So in the spirit of camaraderie, I lined up my ingredients on the counter, pulled out the food processor, set the thermostat to “meat locker” mode and soldiered on.     

The recipe is pretty straightforward. It calls for three risings, which take roughly six hours.  Given the scorching heat, I welcomed six hours in an air-conditioned house. 

Several of the bakers in the group found the bread rather salty.  Since I had a heads up on the salt, I cut it by ½ teaspoon. The bread is tasty, a perfect foil to sop up a yummy dressing or a savory sauce.  Go to Tuesdays with Dorie for the recipe or better yet buy the book, Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.