Episode 39: Garden Parties and Road Trips

Stefin starts off the show admitting to a few pangs of homesickness for the Pacific Northwest, but has discovered that making familiar foods is a good way to beat the blues — especially the Plum Cobbler with Cinnamon Biscuits that she makes every summer.

Back in Washington, Andrea is debating entering the Thurston County Fair’s pie contest, but first the hosts need to figure out if rhubarb would disqualify her berry pie entry.

Next the hosts review Ina Garten’s Peach and Blueberry Crumbles. Stefin took her big batch to her first English “garden party” potluck where it was warmly received. Andrea made individual servings — some she enjoyed right away and some she froze for later. Both hosts agree that briefly boiling the peaches for “ease” of peeling is unnecessary. Stefin advocates skipping that step, and Andrea uses frozen peaches. The hosts also agree that sometimes leaving the skin on fruit in a dessert is just fine, and Andrea encourages listeners to use the crumble recipe as a template and experiment with other fruit combinations.

Are you sweltering in your part of the world this summer? Andrea and Stefin introduce an easy no-bake indoor s’mores bar that has all the fun of a roasted marshmallow with none of the need for an open fire. Check out the recipe here, and bake along this week!

For many families, a road trip is a summer tradition. Though Stefin didn’t take many as a child, she looks forward to traveling by train during her time in England, and will certainly take advantage of the many delicious pre-made sandwiches, salads and other foods that are abundant in the U.K. Andrea spent many a summer driving to Civil War sites as a child, and learned a lot about budgeting and nutrition thanks to her parents’ “per diem” food rules. (As well as the perils of overindulging in pecan nut logs.) As an adult, she enjoys traveling to Arizona to visit her in-laws, and the hosts both admit to relaxing their “junk food” rules on the road.

Speaking of overindulging, Stefin recently took delivery on six pounds of wheat germ after clicking “purchase” a little too quickly without first doing the metric weight conversion. (Note: 500g roughly equals one pound.)

Listeners: Do you have a favorite recipe that uses a substantial amount of wheat germ? Please pass it along!