The Hostess with the Mostess blog posted a really creative idea for making drink tags for your next party. Check it out - Thanksgiving Drink Charms.

Okay, this isn’t a recipe per se. But, it is a nice little way to kick up your stemware the next time you’re having a little party. Haha… like college kids use stemware.

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As temperature cools down and leaves begin to change colors, there’s no question that fall is around the corner. It’s hardly a secret that I have a bent for all things autumnal — heartier food, richer spices, loaves and loaves of banana-apple bread, pumpkin everything, and of course most anticipated of all, that glorious process of devising (and revising, many many times) the Thanksgiving menu and cooking and feasting for hours on end. But despite all that autumnal goodness, there is no denying that summer fruits will be missed sorely. Very very sorely. Bid them a proper farewell while you can. I did my share of that this past weekend. It was a melancholy event but delicious nonetheless.

Vanilla bean pancake with caramelized peach and apple and strawberry butter

This recipe is a keeper if you love your pancakes thick and super-fluffy.

Vanilla bean pancakes with caramelized peach and apple

1 peach
apple
2-3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 stick butter

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 pod vanilla bean butter

Caramelized peach and apple

To caramelize the fruit, heat 1/4 stick of butter on medium high heat. Add the fruit. Let them soften a little bit then sprinkle the sugar over. Let the pan sit for 5-7 minutes until the sauce thickens.

To make pancakes, mix dry ingredients together. Beat eggs with buttermilk and scrap vanilla seeds into the mix. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Brush the pan thoroughly with butter and ladle the batter into it. Turn when the surface gets bubbly (about 2 minutes on each side).

Strawberry butter

6-8 strawberries
1 stick butter (softened)
sugar

Mash/puree the strawberries. Mix everything together and keep folding until well-blended.

That was breakfast Saturday. Juicy peaches revisited Sunday at the tomato-themed birthday party. I actually considered making a tomato dessert to keep with the theme, but really, tomato cake anyone? tomato tiramisu or tomato trifle? My point exactly. But since the dinner was meant to pay homage to the season’s bounty, I thought a light dessert showcasing fresh summer fruits would be equally appropriate.

Summer fruit parfait with peach sabayon

3/4 cup peach liqueur plus more for macerating
1 cup peach nectar
1 dozen egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
5 peaches
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blueberries
1 pint hazelnut gelato (Ciao Bella)
2/3 cup crushed amaretti cookies
1/2 toasted almond slivers

Peel the peaches, cut into slices and douse them with peach liqueur. Let marinade in the fridge for 30min - 1 hr.

Peeling peaches

To make sabayon, heat the peach liqueur and peach nectar in a double boiler on medium heat. Gradually whisk in the yolks. Then slowly add in sugar, whisk, whisk whisk. It’s very important that you keep whisking constantly. The mixture’s volume will double and triple and quadruple. Keep whisking. Stop when you have a thick ribbon consistency and a fluffy, rich and shiny texture.

Whisking sabayon

Since sabayon must be served immediately, try to have everything else assembled and ready to go right before the cream is done. Start with a scoop of hazelnut gelato in the bottom, then the macerated drunken peach, the berries, a ladleful of the peach sabayon, then top with crushed amaretti and toasted almonds. So you have the contrast between hot and cold, the fruitiness and the creaminess, the lingering presence of the peach liqueur plus an extra crunch from the amaretti and the almonds.

Fruit cup assembly: hazelnut gelato, macerated peach,
raspberries and blueberries

Summer fruit parfait with peach sabayon

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