Peaches and neighbors...

We made a quick trip out to the orchard for some fresh early peaches. They are $7.50 for a five pound flat. The cashier said they should have peaches every day for the rest of the season. They taste delicious!

I kept three or four peaches for us, and Larry carried the rest across the street to our sweet neighbor, Mr. Ray, who came to Larry’s rescue last week. Larry was loading the lawnmower into the truck to take it down to Dude’s house, when he had a slight mishap. The mower flipped over, pinning him underneath. While he lay trapped beneath the mower in our drive, with gasoline spilling all over him, he yelled at the top of his voice for one of us inside to come and help him. Unfortunately, we were all oblivious to his peril. Fortunately, Mr. Ray was more alert than us and came to Larry’s aid. Praise the Lord for Mr. Ray’s assistance and that, other than some bad bruises and scrapes, Larry is fine.

A basket of fresh fruit makes a lovely gift. I picked up a cute metal and wicker basket at Hobby Lobby (on clearance for $2) and a pretty coordinating kitchen towel at Dollar Tree. I filled the lined basket with the peaches, wrapped it in some cellophane, tied some ribbons around it, and it was ready for delivery. This is a great way to share food with those on restrictive diets.

Cost of peaches: $7.50

Cost of supplies for making fruit basket: $3.00

The value of a good neighbor: Priceless!!

I cut up the peaches I saved for us, sprinkled sugar over them and let them set awhile. I served the peaches over Sour Cream Pound Cake. I almost always have the ingredients on hand for this cake. It is one of our favorites. My pound cakes aren't always "pretty". I used to shy away for making them, because mine tend to rise up over the top of the pan and/or stick to the sides of the pan. My Pampered Chef Bundt pan pretty much put an end to the sticking problem, but they almost always rise too high. I am sure I am beating too much air into them. I was in a real hurry and trying to put the cake below together really quickly. Of course, it rose too high, and because I didn't have time to let it properly cool, it stuck slightly to the side of my pan. I usually take my serrated bread knife (yes, it's another PC product) and level the top off before turning the cake out onto the platter. I did this with this cake and put the part I cut off on a plate and set it aside. As I said, the cake stuck a bit on one side when I turned it onto the platter. Because Larry likes really crunchy bread, I took a spoon and scraped the stuck residue into a Ziploc for him. At supper, my son wanted "that top part that you always cut off. It's my favorite part, because it's so fluffy." After Larry had eaten a piece of cake and his "crunchies", he said, "I really like this cake. These crunchy things are the best part." So, don't beat yourself up if your dishes turn out less perfect than you desire. You never know. The mistakes may be your family's favorite parts!