stone fruit means summertime!

finally, stone fruit! the abnormally cold spring weather seems to have delayed the crops but at last, my beloved nectarines are back. my first spotting was at the grocery store last week so i grabbed some of them along with some apricots. then, due to a hectic week, i wasn't home enough to be eating them. last night i decided to eat them in one go, as a dessert. grilled seemed like the perfect method here. now, i do not have a grill, bbq, or grill pan. what i do have is a george foreman grill (which can be problematic when you don't want flavors/grease/marinade dripping off of your food item), which seems to get the job done. i mean come on, yummy fruit, grill it, bake it, freeze it, it's all going to be good.

after i grilled the fruit sprinkled with some brown sugar, i gave it a good few minutes on the grill. sadly, the brown sugar didn't really caramelize, it just kind of melted. maybe because it has more moisture? the heat was off? live and learn but at least it still tasted good. i choose to serve my grilled fruit over vanilla yogurt with a little more brown sugar sprinkled on top (you could also use honey here). but really, between the sweetness of the fruit and yogurt, it probably didn't need it. and then once i settled in front of the tv, i maaaay have tossed in some chocolate chips...gotta have my fix.

gluten-free microwave cookies

there's nothing like a move to delay blogging/cooking/eating at home. for the past week (ok, more) i've been engulfed in moving type activities. when i finally got into the new apartment with my stuff (saturday), the knowledge that the gas wouldn't be turned on for four more days was almost more than i could handle. let's just take a moment to praise the housing market crash for its overabundance of leftover new buildings that cannot be filled. and therefore, people like me, get to rent units in them for a bargain price and more importantly, to experience NEW AND WONDERFUL KITCHEN APPLIANCES. in any case, the important part for you to take away from all of this is that i have a beautiful, full size stove and oven at my disposal. that means 4 working burners. not one, not two...you get the point. no more mini new york kitchen stove for me! i'm ready to get cooking! however, that was not in the cards.

after this rather traumatic weekend moving experience--to sum it up: it involved two "movers" who turned out to be weak high school students, an amazing part time boxer/mover who saved my life, and an angry landlord knocking on the door of my old apartment while i frantically cleaned and painted--The Baker decided i needed her to come over and make me cookies to help recoup. (isn't it awesome how i have all of these baker friends?! i suggest you try it.) so The Baker came over to make cookies but alas, we couldn't use the oven. that left just two things: the microwave and the george foreman.

i can hear my mom now, "blasphemy! you can't make cookies in the microwave!" another baker...go figure...but here's the thing, i really needed those cookies. and there didn't seem to be any reason to think that it would be a complete disaster. who doesn't eat the cookie dough? so what could you possibly do to it to make it taste bad??!!

our cookie dough of choice was The Baker's own goober puff. now you may know that i'm not so into blogging out my friends favorite recipes. they are theirs to do with what they wish. so i'm just going to tell you that i really think this method would work with any cookie dough (just to note: ours was wheat/gluten-free and on the firmer side) and you can read the tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe below.

no gas cookie method number 1: the microwave
a warning here: these cookies will not look like they've been cooked (you know that whole microwave cooks from the inside out and is incapable of browning thing). they seemed a bit on the drier side the first time we did them. 30 seconds on a greased plate in my new powerful microwave seemed to be just right. still a bit on the drier side which gave them a muffin like texture.

no gas cookie method number 2: the george foreman (and they totally doubted me on this one. just for the record.)
grilled cookies?! YUM! these ones got crusty on the outside and were still moist on the inside. the george automatically smooshes the dough down pretty evenly which makes for a lovely cookie.


the goober puff uses a combination of almond flour and oats. find almond flour recipes here.
or:

ye olde faithful nestle toll house chocolate chip cookie recipe

• 1 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (i, of course, use spelt)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (recipe says to split the regular sugar and brown sugar evenly but i like a little extra brown sugar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
  

• preheat oven to 375° f.
• cream butter and sugar.
• add egg and vanilla, mix well.
• mix in flour, baking soda and salt until combined.
• stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
• bake tablespoon sized drops of batter for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.