The first piece of mail that we received here at the ranch wasn’t a bill or some sort of junk, it was a thoughtful “housewarming” book from one of my mom’s greatest friends. Jeannie sent me a cookbook of recipes from an accidental country girl called, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Gramma spent some time looking through the book the other day while Josh and I were bouncing around the prairie and she certainly was amused. She says that she’s never seen a cookbook chock full of pictures with kids, cows, and horses.

The cookbook has a lot of recipes that use all fresh ingredients, but it’s not lacking in recipes that use cans of food. I thought for sure that these wouldn’t come in handy to me seeing as I usually have maybe one can of tomatoes on hand, and if we’re lucky perhaps a can of lentil soup. But I’ve learned my lesson; our nearest farmers’ market is an hour and a half away, and the sole grocer in town has little for affordable (or good) fresh food. We end up in Laramie with bags of goods whenever we can get out there, stocking both cabinets and freezers on our return to the ranch. So this cookbook written by a woman who lives on a remote ranch all of a sudden takes on new meaning for my way of cooking.

Rummaging through Gramma’s cupboard yesterday I found a can of olives, and in the fridge some mayo. There was a recipe in the book that actually used these ingredients together. We’ll talk about that later. I’m still trying to accept the fact that I made food to eat from that combo of foods. More importantly, it’s the end of peach season here (it’s supposed to frost tomorrow) and there are cobblers and pies to make. Here’s a great one with a few adjustments I made from Ree Drummond’s book.

Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce
adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Maple Cream Sauce
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 tablespoons maple syrup (the real stuff, please)
3 tablespoons honey

Peach Crisp
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg (I like to use fresh and grate myself)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold butter
5 or 6 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches (6-7 peaches)
Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

First make the cream sauce- it needs to chill before serving. Pour cream into heavy saucepan, then add maple syrup and honey. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and reduced by a third, about 20 minutes. Chill for at least an hour before serving over warm peach crisp.

Then, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Did you know you can make your own brown sugar?

Cut the cold butter into pieces. Add the butter to the bowl and use a fork or pastry blender to cut it into the flour mixture. It will resemble a moist, coarse meal.

Place the peaches in a bowl- to peel, quickly blanch in boiling water (about 30-60 seconds), dunk in icy water, and then slip the peels right off with a sharp knife. Add the lemon zest to the peaches, mix in lemon juice and maple syrup, then gently stir to combine. Remember to save some peaches for the cobbler- don’t eat them all. Pour peaches into 9-inch square or 8×12-inch baking dish.

Top with the crumb mixture, evening out the surface with a fork. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake 30 minutes more, or until the topping is crisp and golden brown. If the topping appears underdone, continue baking in 10 minute increments until it’s done. Spoon the warm crisp onto a plate, then drizzle with chilled maple cream sauce. Yes, it really is THAT good!

We used our leftover maple cream sauce on peaches with yogurt the next morning. And then we ate more cobbler. And then we forced ourselves to hunt for something to chase to end our stupor, but in the end laid in the grass under the sun with a lazy hound dog.