Right Brained Gal:

I haven't felt like doing much since I got back from Santa Barbara, and I haven't. From past experience, I know I will pay for it later. You snooze, you lose.

I love everything about summer and hate for it to end. Luckily, in Southern California, it never ends, just gets dark earlier. And of course it rains occasionally. That is how you can tell winter from summer. It rains in the winter and not in the summer.

I have been socializing a lot lately and for me that means a lot of cooking and baking. I adore the fresh vegetables and fruits that are in abundance and I have been taking advantage of them. I have discovered 100 ways to serve beets, corn compliments every dish you add it to, and I have never found a dessert made with peaches that I didn't love. I was dying to try the recipe for peach cookies from the August issue of Martha Stewart and they didn't disappoint. A friend of mine said that they were the best cookies she had ever eaten! Now that peaches are everywhere, I am taking full advantage. (I even saw them in the vending machine today!) I have a peach crumb pie in the oven for a barbecue that I am attending tonight and even made peach jam with some peaches that a friend left in his trunk, way too long.
Since I have an over-abundance of flowers in my yard, I am also doing a flower arrangement every day. When life hands you peaches, make peach cookies!

If anyone is interested, here is the recipe thanks to Martha Stewart Magazine.

FRESH PEACH DROP COOKIES

2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4 inch pieces (about 1 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup peach preserves
2 Tablespoons fine sanding sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375º Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda.

2. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about four minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Add peaches and jam and beat until just combined.

3. Using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough on baking sheet lined with parchment, spacing about 2 inches apart. (Dough can be refrigerated in an air tight container for up to 2 days.) Combine sanding sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/8 teaspoon of sugar-cinnamon mixture.

4. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set 11 - 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and cool completely. These are best eaten the same day they are made and they do not freeze well. Enjoy.