I’ve always been a fan of a great at-home bar. I strongly believe it’s a must-learn life skill to mix up classic cocktails, and as an avid host, it’s important to provide an array...
Looking back on Easter as a child, I remember how excited I was to dig through my Easter basket. Full of chocolate bunnies, malt ball Easter eggs, Peeps, golden coins, and my favorite Cadbury...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
…ate a lot! 2 dinners at Cibo E Beve. The warm cabbage salad, skillet focacia, and pasta is ridiculous. Plus I had another amazing meal atAlma Cocinawith my favorite bartender Kit. Seriously people sit at the bar!
…lusted after these while the Mr. lusted after this.
…shopped, shopped, shopped, and bought for the Boutiquetill I dropped. It’s that time of year again where the largest gift and home show of the season ascends on Atlanta and I buy for the entire season. Overwhelming? Yes. Every shopping addicts dream? Yes and yes.
…debated a new haircut. I’m bored, and I’m blonde. Like natural blonde so dying the hair or highlighting is out of the question, which means the only way for a change usually involves drastic measures. So I’m thinking about bangs. Usually when bored I cut my hair about 10 inches or so but this time I thought maybe just bangs. I’m loving thisand this.
A few weeks ago the Mr. and I jumped on a plane and headed to the island of Turks and Caicos. Our destination, a private sanctuary resort, Amanyara, housed in the middle of the clearest, turquoise waters I have ever laid my eyes upon.
Being in complete seclusion getting to Amanyara is an adventure in itself. Though the resort is only 25 minutes away from the airport, those minutes are spent on coastal un paved back roads that rise to hills then quickly fall away to flat plain covered in nothing but native, untouched landscape. During our entire drive we passed only one other car and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to asking Anthony more than once if he was sure GPS was leading us in the right direction. However, with only one wrong turn we arrived at the resort a short 27 minutes later, greeted by what seemed like a small army of staff members with cool drinks in hand. From that moment we knew Amanyara’s description of being a refuge wouldn’t be far from the truth.
Immediately you’re struck by Amanyara’s carefully though out architecture. Each airy space designed to allow complete views of the next is both modern, but completely one with it’s surroundings. The large reception pavilion opens onto a breathtaking central reflection pond surrounded by mahogany trees, framed on one side by the Library and Gallery, and the other side by the Restaurant and circular Bar. The bar, a natural gathering spot, leads out to the main pool set on the edge of Turks and Caico’s turquoise waters. A short walk down a stone path to the right lies a private, white sand beach, and to the left all glass pavilions are perched just above the ocean’s edge. Our pavilion stretched out over a tranquil pond and like the rest of the resort, was tucked away providing complete privacy. In the mornings we would open every wall of windows and enjoy breakfast, and at night we’d lay on the deck, listen to the complete and utter silence and gaze up at the stars. After living in a city for so long you forget just how many stars can fill a night sky.
Time on the island just seemed to move slower, and for the first time in I don’t know how long I found myself with four glorious un planned days. Days we filled with long leisurely strolls on the beach and plenty of swims in Turks’ crystal clear turquoise waters. We unplugged, re connected, and recharged and when it was time to say goodbye I whimpered as I got on the plane destined to take me back to reality. As I type I find I’m already yearning to escape and smell that tropical air and find a little bit of Amanyara peace again. Tell me Loves, where are you planning to escape to next? Truly, MKR
This story is in collaboration with Amanyara Turks and Caicos, an Aman Resort, a breathtaking resort we love and adore. All images and opinions are 100% our own.
In my humble opinion, it simply wouldn’t be summer without cobbler and pie. I’ve ALWAYS been more of a cobbler, pie, tart person than anything else when it comes to desserts. And since so many of my favorite fruits are in season during summer, I stay close to the tried-and-true recipes centered around them this time of year. And friends, this may be one of the easiest renditions of one of those recipes yet. With fresh Georgia peaches, plump and sweet blackberries, crunchy pecans and homemade biscuits dropped on top…my Peach & Blackberry Cobbler tastes like summer on a plate AND it’s pretty simple to make (there’s no crust or crumble, but the homemade biscuits still give you that heavenly-doughy-carby fix).
I like to make my Peach & Blackberry Cobbler around the middle to end of summer because that’s when the blackberries and peaches are at their prime. As you’ll see in the recipe below, it’s really all about macerating the fruit mixture and dropping homemade biscuits on top. The ripeness and sweetness of the fruit will determine just how much sugar you’ll need (in this case very little) to macerate them to your liking. I find that I prefer the natural flavor of the blackberries and peaches to really shine through rather than a sugary-too sweet taste. I always leave the skin on the peaches too; I’ve found that there’s no reason to take it off and it actually adds a more made-from-scratch feel to the dessert. Lastly, the cinnamon and nutmeg give the blackberry, peach, pecan mixture a certain warmth that makes each and every bite more wonderful. But then of course, to top it all off when you serve—you’ll obviously need a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Classic! Truly, MKR
4 CUPS SELF-RISING FLOUR (ONLY EVER WHITE LILY), PLUS MORE FOR DUSTING
1 STICK (8 TABLESPOONS) BUTTER, CUT IN SMALL CUBES, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
½ CUP CREAM CHEESE, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
1½ CUPS BUTTERMILK
2 TABLESPOONS MELTED BUTTER
Instructions
For the biscuits...
PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 500 DEGREES WITH RACK IN THE MIDDLE POSITION.
PLACE 4 CUPS OF WHITE LILY FLOUR IN A LARGE BOWL.
SPRINKLE BUTTER CUBES AND CREAM CHEESE ON TOP OF THE FLOUR AND USE YOUR FINGERS TO "SNAP" THROUGH IT UNTIL THE MIXTURE RESEMBLES COTTAGE CHEESE (CHUNKY WITH SOME LOOSE FLOUR).
MAKE A WELL IN THE CENTER, AND POUR THE BUTTERMILK IN THE WELL.
USE YOUR HANDS OR A RUBBER SPATULA TO MIX THE BUTTERMILK INTO THE FLOUR. DO NOT OVER-MIX. YOU'LL HAVE A WET AND MESSY DOUGH.
SPREAD A GENEROUS AMOUNT OF FLOUR ONTO A WORK SURFACE.
DUMP THE LARGE BOWL OF DOUGH ONTO THE FLOURED WORK SURFACE. FLOUR A ROLLING PIN AND SPRINKLE FLOUR ON TOP OF THE DOUGH.
ROLL THE DOUGH TO ½-INCH THICKNESS. DO NOT KNEAD THE DOUGH.
FLOUR A 2-INCH ROUND BISCUIT CUTTER. PRESS THE CUTTER STRAIGHT DOWN INTO THE DOUGH AND STRAIGHT BACK UP (QUICKLY!). REPEAT, FINISH CUTTING THE DOUGH INTO BISCUITS (YOU MAY NEED TO RE-ROLL OUT THE DOUGH SCRAPS TO FINISH). THE DOUGH MUST STAY WET INSIDE, BUT YOU CAN USE AS MUCH FLOUR ON THE OUTSIDE AS NECESSARY.
PLACE BISCUITS INTO A CAST-IRON SKILLET OR ONTO A BAKING PAN WITH SIDES, LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER. THE SIDES OF THE BISCUITS SHOULD BE TOUCHING.
BRUSH THE TOPS OF THE BISCUITS WITH MELTED BUTTER. PLACE IN OVEN AND REDUCE OVEN TEMP TO 450 DEGREES. BAKE 16-18 MINUTES, ROTATING THE SKILLET OR PAN ONCE.
For the filling...
In a large mixing bowl, macerate the blackberries, peaches and pecans with the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for 20-30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is preheating and mixture is macerating, make biscuit dough (see above).
Pour mixture into a large baking dish, with the lemon juice on top. Drop your biscuit dough onto the mixture in the baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes but keep an eye on it. You'll want to bake the cobbler for 20-30 minutes, depending on how you like the inside texture. You don't want your biscuits to cook more than your filling, so if that starts to happen, cover the entire dish with foil and continue to cook.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
If you're going to make the homemade biscuit dough, you might as well make all of the biscuits and freeze the leftovers. But if you just want enough biscuits for this recipe, half the recipe. And if you don't feel like using fresh biscuits, you can absolutely use the store-bought biscuits and throw them on top of the cobbler.
By Mandy Kellogg Rye @ Waiting on Martha
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