kitchen diary: july 26

now that i am back from vacation, summer seems to be in full swing and the markets are bursting with new fruits and vegetables each week. i’m craving a summer fruit dessert. these are my favorite kind of desserts because they are so easy to make at home … crisps, crumbles, buckles, pies, etc.

today, i make a blueberry & peach pandowdy (what a funny word, i know — i also call this the “lazy man’s pie”).  a pandowdy has only one crust (on top), and traditionally, it is cut up halfway through baking and pushed into the fruit (i never do this, though).  i think that peaches and blueberries are a dynamite combination and i have both of these fruits in my CSA box this week. i always use this recipe from gourmet, and i simply swap in whatever fruit i have on hand. if i am really feeling lazy, then i use store-bought dough as the recipe suggests. but today, amazing summer thunderstorms come rolling through brooklyn in the evening, so i make my own pie dough while the storms thrash outside. it is very much worth the effort.