Dear Reader,

Thank you for visiting my website. I don’t know about you but I wonder if my feet will never see a pedicure again!  But seriously, the COVID19 pandemic has weighed heavily on all of us, and in so many ways.  I hope you and your family are safe and healthy.

I am very happy to announce I have a new edition to my fur-family.  She’s a 2 month old kitten named Miss Boo.  She was found abandoned under a car and has a club-foot.  She is adorable and sweet, and I am very glad to have her here where she is safe and loved.

It’s blazing hot here in South Carolina.  My vegetable garden is growing nicely and I am looking forward to fresh produce I can pick outside my door.  Wearing a mask to go grocery shopping isn’t any fun.

Speaking of fun, I imagine everyone is going to be creative celebrating Fourth of July this year.  I know a lot of people have taken up baking since they’ve been quarantined, so I wanted to share a couple of summer dessert recipes and would like you to share some of yours.  And if you do try one of mine, I’d love to hear from you.   Full disclosure, I use pre-made refrigerated dough. If someone wants to send me a recipe for the crust please do.  Believe it or not, I haven’t been able to master that part of the pie making process yet.

Here is an easy Apple Rollup Recipe

Preheat oven to 375

I like to use parchment on the cookie sheet.  Easy clean-up.

• 1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut into 8 (1/2-inch) slices
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted SAVE 1/2
• 1 can (8 oz) refrigerated crescent rolls (unroll them and divide them up on sheet)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon apple pie spice (or mix your own with pinches of allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon)

Mix the apples with half the melted butter, sugar, and spice.

Place one apple slice on each crescent and roll them up.  Brush remaining butter on tops.  Place in oven bake for  10-12  minutes  and you’ve got a fun finger-food dessert.  Please make sure you let them cool for five minutes.

Traditional Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 5 peaches , peeled, cored and sliced (about 4 cups)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the batter:

• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Mix sliced peaches, sugar and salt to a saucepan and stir to combine.
Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice butter into pieces place in 9X13 baking dish.
Put the pan in the oven while it is preheating until the butter melts, then remove pan from oven.
In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Stir in the milk until combined.
Pour the mixture over the melted butter and smooth it into an even layer.
Spoon peach mixture over the batter. Sprinkle cinnamon generously over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 38-40 minutes.  Best if served warm—with ice cream!

Summer is going to be tricky for a lot of families. I hope you can enjoy the summer however you spend it.  Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue.

All the best,

Fern Michaels

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the July contest to win a signed edition of one of Truth and Justice.