Catz in the Kitchen

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Farmhouse Peach Pie

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I simply don't know of a more wonderfully classic late summer dessert than this traditional lattice-topped farmhouse peach pie.

Farmhouse Peach Pie

This recipe originally appeared on Catz in September 2011 - almost 13 years ago! We've remade it, tweaked it a bit, re-photographed it, and, of course...devoured it. You need this classic farmhouse peach pie in your late summer dessert rotation!

I am so not an expert when it comes to making pies. In fact, I'm not even a pie lover. Give me a cake, brownie, or cookie over a pie any day! However, I admire the art of pie-making (and it truly is an art), and it is something I feel very strongly about becoming better at. It's an age-old tradition handed down through generations - grandmothers and mothers teaching their children how to make pie. Hopefully one day, my kids will ask to learn how to make a pie and I, too, can get in the kitchen with them by my side, teaching them how to crimp edges and roll out pie dough...perfectly. And for the record, I am not there yet. Pretty good at crimping edges. Rolling out the dough is another story.

Farmhouse Peach Pie served on a plate

When I first made this pie years ago, I was very new to the whole pie-making business. I'd made only one pie before and I had my mom by my side. This time, I got brave and not only decided to make a pie on my own, but also attempt a lattice pie topping. Since originally posting this recipe, I've made a lattice pie crust a few more times and I'll just say, it isn't the easiest thing to do. I not only have to pull up a "how to" on the web, but I have Grace come and assist me and help me be an extra pair of eyes and hands. I don't cut perfectly straight or even strips of dough, and the interlacing of the lattice does take a few minutes to get going.

I fully believe in transparency, and like I usually say in almost all of my pie recipe posts, I am a novice. I aspire to get better and I'm continually working on the process. I like to bring you desserts like this, not to imtimidate, but encourage. If I can do it, so can you. And if it is not perfect, chances are it will taste pretty darn good.

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Weekly Menu for the Week of Aug 12

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Hello, hello! How was your weekend? Hopefully it was a bit relaxing for you and you were able to soak up some of that summer sun. We celebrated my sister's birthday, and also had the pleasure of bringing a meal to a family in our church who just had a brand new baby - I like to share ideas there in case they might inspire people to bless someone they know with a meal - it's easy to do, and a blessing for both parties! Greek chicken bowls are a great meal meal to bring to someone. I doubled the garlic butter rice and threw that in a Dollar Store aluminum pan. Josh grilled up some chicken breast and I put that in a separate container, and then I used little pie aluminum plates from the Dollar Store for all of the toppings. And the Tzatziki sauce got stored in an old soup container - the kind you would typically get from the deli section of the grocery store. To top all of that off, Grace and Eden made cookies for dessert!

Speaking of ministering with meals, one of my other sisters is having a baby any day and people are kicking in with freezer meals that will make feeding her family a little easier post-delivery. This time, I'm going to be buying some freezer meals from the store. Why? I would have loved to have made something for them, but I wasn't able to squeeze it in this week! It can be really easy when bringing a meal to someone too overthink it - it doesn't need to be that way, and don't let it stop you! A few frozen pizzas and lasagna. Grab a container of ice cream and toppings and you're set!

Here are some dinner ideas for you for this week:

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6 Peach Recipes for You to Enjoy this Summer

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I love peaches, but their season is a short one, am I right? Why is it that it always seems like fall and winter fruits and veggies last longer than any spring or summer fruit or veggie? Also, here's another question...do you eat peaches with the skin on or off? I feel like you could ask the same question about pears, too. I usually skin a peach if I am baking/cooking with it. But if I am going to snack on a peach, I'll leave the skin on (as long as it has been washed, that is).

We actually have eight recipes featuring peaches in the archives, but two of those recipes are pretty old and really need to be updated: new pictures, text, and recipe card! I promise, I'm working on those right now. For the other six recipes on the blog, they're wonderful. For most of these recipes, you could use fresh or frozen peaches. There are even a few where you can use jarred or canned peaches instead of fresh. I wouldn't substitute canned peaches in pies, tarts, or cheesecakes, though. Canned peaches are too soft and mushy, and will give your bake a mushy and liquid-y finish.

Make sure, especially with the jarred, frozen, or canned peaches, that they are drained, rinsed and dried off well, because peaches hold a lot of moisture, especially when they're cooking, and you don't want them to fall apart on you.

Now that we've got a few clarifications out of the way, let's move on to this list of yummy recipes!

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Weekly Menu for the Week of Aug 5

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Well, hello hello friends! It feels good to be back! I took a few weeks off and during that time, I honestly didn't cook a ton (I was on a beautiful island with Josh for some of the time...) and then I was single parenting it for a bit while Josh was on a business trip as well as a father-daughter trip with our almost 16 yr old. But everyone is home now and it's August!

I know some of you may already be about to embark on Back to School time for your kiddos. We did some back to school shopping (pencils, binders...things) but we won't actually start till after our family trip in mid-September. That annual trip for us always marks the end of our summer break and the beginning of the school season (except for Grace, who goes back to college in a few days), and I am busy planning for it in our homeschool and for our meals as well.

But, we're still in the summer, so here is this week's menu of dinner ideas for you...

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Weekly Menu for the Week of July 15

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How is it already mid-July? Summer is just whizzing past and I'm not okay with it. We're having the most beautiful, warm (sometimes downright hot!) weather and it is just glorious. I was never a summer person until my 30s, and now I just wish summer would never end. Some people complain about how hot it is, but when is fall coming, I'm like no, let summer hang on for as long as it can...

So Josh and I have been doing a ton of recipe testing lately. You know I've been working on clotted cream and scones for a few months, but we've also been working on a new fish taco recipe, baked beans, and some summer desserts, just to name a few. I cannot wait to share them with you! I really think you're going to love them!

Here's what's on this week's menu:

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No-Bake Protein Balls

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These healthy little no-bake protein balls are a great midday snack, ready in about 15 minutes, and keep in the fridge for about two weeks!

No-Bake Protein Balls

Now that I'm officially in my 40s, I've been really thinking about what my health goals are. Not that 40 years old is old - it's not! It is young and I feel very young myself, but I do want to keep myself feeling as good as I feel right now for as long as I can (in terms of strength and mobility).

Some of the things I've been really focusing on are drinking at least eight glasses of water (I've been sneaking 8 oz of coconut water into my smoothies lately instead of using almond milk - I may never go back), sleep - really working on being in bed and going to sleep at 10pm, which is really hard when you've got teens who want to hang out with you (a problem I'm very grateful to have!), maintaining a strength training focus with low impact cardio, and getting lots of protein into my diet without counting macros. I just don't want to do it, guys! I've done the My Fitness Pal thing and I don't want to go back (great tool, no knock on them - just don't want to count calories).

No-Bake Protein Balls from above
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Weekly Menu for the Week of July 8

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You guys, we had the hottest weekend, and our weird little heat wave still has a few more days to go! Tomorrow we're supposed to hit the 100's which I will say is somewhat unusual for us. We typically enjoy PNW summers in the upper 80's and low 90's. But we've been upper 90's all week and I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Over the years, Josh has really helped me become a sun lover (not like I lay out in the sun often), where I look forward to being outside in the heat. I even went for an easy 20 min run yesterday in 95 degree temps. And I'll just say, 20 minutes was where it was at. I couldn't imagine exerting myself any longer than that since I haven't really trained my body for it!

Did you all have a fun 4th of July? We celebrated Cub's second birthday since most of our family was down for the holiday, and then he had a very relaxed weekend. We went to the Farmer's Market and set the sprinkler up for the kids in the backyard. The kids just loved it. Speaking of the 4th, did anyone else buy those "confetti cannons" from Costco this year? NEVER AGAIN! I don't know what we thought they would actually do, but we really didn't realize that you would twist the bottom off and thousands of little shiny strips of paper would come bursting forth and cover everything. In fact, the wind in our area picked up the little strips of paper and Josh literally had to vacuum the whole neighborhood with his leaf vacuum because they were everywhere. Never. Ever. Again.

Here's what's on this week's menu:

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Weekly Menu for the Week of July 1

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Hey, friends, how was your week? Did you get a chance to check out our post on our trip to London yet? We hope you find it informative if you're thinking about taking a trip abroad with your family, especially with young ones. We'll be writing up and sharing out Paris post pretty soon, too!

This past weekend, the girls and I snuck away to the beach for a few days. The weather didn't start out promising, but by Sunday afternoon, it cleared off and got really warm, which is amazing for the Oregon Coast - our beach weather attire is typically warm jackets, hoodies, and hats. But on Sunday, it was muggy and warm, which was wonderful!

It's a big week in the Catz household this weekend. Not only is it 4th of July, but Cub turns two years old! Can you believe it? Oh my goodness, that little baby has left babyhood behind him and he has fully embraced little boy toddlerdom, which is incredibly entertaining to watch. Every day he learns something new, and it always amazes me how quickly they can grow up when they reach this age.

Instead of sharing a weekly menu this week, I'm going to share 4th of July inspired recipes to help your backyard cookout be a tasty success.

Here's what could be on your menu this week:

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Catz on the Move: 5 Nights in London with 5 Kids

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We recently spent 5 nights in London with 5 kids - read on for tips, learnings, and thoughts from traveling with our family of seven!

5 Nights in London with 5 Kids

As we've mentioned on social media (and, indeed, in one of our recent weekly menu posts), our family recently had the opportunity to visit London (followed by Paris, which we'll write about in a subsequent post) for five nights. It was a first visit to the United Kingdom for all of us (I spent seven hours in Heathrow on my way to South Africa as a child, but have been reliably informed that this does not count...), and, I have to say, an absolute delight - we all want to go back!


We're writing this post because we've gotten quite a few requests to do so, so here goes, but a few important notes at the top: as I mentioned above, this was our first visit to the city, so clearly we're not writing as international travel pros or London regulars. Our goal here will just be to share our experiences, what went well, what didn't, what we'd do the same, what we'd change, and, primarily, what the visit was like as a family of seven, which seems to be the topic that raises the most questions! A quick reminder: nothing in this post is sponsored - just our thoughts and opinions.

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Weekly Menu for the Week of June 24

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Hiya, friends! We had such a beautiful weekend and it was relatively low key. I mean, I got things done, but I was also single-parenting it for pretty much the a good chunk of the week and whole weekend. Josh left for a business trip on Sunday afternoon, got home that Wednesday, and then left again for a quick men's camping trip with his dad, brothers, nephews, and Christian. Gives me a little more respect (and I already had a lot) for you single parents out there - major kudos - it is hard work balancing it all and I am in awe of you!

I cooked ALL week and weekend, and while I'm in major need of a break, I do have some tasty meals planned for the week, and since Josh will be home, we will be doing some grilling and I am very excited to share these recipes with you!

Here's what's on the menu this week:

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