Simply Living Guest Post~ Sweet Tea and Cobbler

It was a lot of fun for us to come up with recipe ideas for our post here and being from the South, we decided to look to a southern staple for inspiration: peaches. We only found it fitting to share two of our favorite peach recipes, which are perfect and just peachy keen (hehe) for the upcoming summer months. Peach cobbler is an essential Southern dessert which can be found at block parties, family reunions, county fairs, and of course Granny’s kitchen counter. (We’re really trying to play up the Southern angle here haha!) Our second peach dish is a peach sweet tea. Sweet tea is the quintessential drink of choice during the year, but especially in the hot summer months here in Texas.

Southern food is all about bringing together friends and family, and we, just like Kelly and Stephanie, live apart for most of the year. Because we aren’t always together, cooking dishes that hit close to home is a great way for us to have fun, catch up on life, and more importantly, satisfy our never ending hunger for desserts and drinks. When we’re both back at home from school, it’s one of our favorite things to gather at one of our homes and bake delicious treats, even if sometimes those cooking adventures end up in a baking fail! (Refer to photo below for Suruchi’s first attempt at peeling and slicing a peach. Don’t even ask how that happened.)

Food brings people together and it’s always a fun way to try new things. We hope you enjoy these recipes and try a little taste of Texas!

Peach & Vanilla Sweet Tea

4 cups of water
2 bags of Lipton Ice Tea or your favorite iced tea blend
1/2 cup of peach preserves (homemade or store bought)
1/2 tablespoon of vanilla
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Sugar to taste (a few tablespoons should do but the more sugar the better in our opinion)

*In order to get a real sweet tea, you have to mix in the sugar while the tea is still warm so the sugar dissolves properly

*If you are looking to get a real taste of the South, add some Bourbon to your liking and enjoy!

Directions: Boil the 4 cups of water for the tea, allow the tea bags to brew for three to five minutes depending on how strong you want your tea to be. Add some scoops of sugar to your liking while the tea is still hot and stir until dissolved.

In a small mixing bowl, stir the peach preserves, vanilla, and lemon juice. If the mixture is too thick, add water to thin it out. Add the mixture to the tea and stir until combined. Fill a pitcher with ice and pour the tea into your favorite glass for the perfect thirst quenching drink!

Peach & Blueberry Cobbler

5 pounds of peaches, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
Salt
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, divided
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of buttermilk
2 cups of fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tbsp of cinnamon

Directions: Preheat oven to 375°. Peel and slice peaches and place in a large baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle the 2 tbsps of lemon juice over the peaches. Add 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/8 tsp of salt, and 3/4 cup of sugar, to the peaches and mix together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

In another bowl, add the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and butter. Beat the sugar and butter together with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to butter/egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, beating until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Pour the batter over the peaches and sprinkle the brown sugar over the batter. Place the baking dish on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 375° for 1 hour or until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbly on the sides.

Eat warm and enjoy! You can serve the cobbler on its own or add a scoop of ice cream on top.

Thanks again to Kelly and Stephanie for sharing their blog with us today! We love seeing how food can connect people both near and far. We hope y’all try out these recipes and share them with the people you love! Enjoy! (:

-Suruchi and Hannah