Bucks Redux

This is the third August that I’ve rented in Bucks County. This years’ house was terrific, a stone beauty from the 18th century with all mod cons, well-appointed and set on a 100 acre conserved farm. The front of the house faces a little creek and the property includes numerous outbuildings including a large barn. Finding places to plug in all ones’ electronics is a little bit of a challenge but manageable, more than offset by the wonderful kitchen, good showers and comfy beds.

Sake, my cat, came with me and had an A+ vacation. After vanishing for a day and a half dealing with the terror of being in unfamiliar quarters, she ventured out to enjoy prime cat

Sake watching a good channel

TV via the bird feeders close to many windows, had her first experience with stairs, and interacted with the company.

On my first morning at the property I managed to run out of gas, thankfully in the driveway.  It took some time to rouse assistance (hello AAA) but finally a local guy came with two precious gallons, enough for me to get to a gas station for a full tank.

My daughters, along with one’s husband and the other’s partner, came for Labor Day weekend.  On Sunday we went tubing on the Delaware where I began by not centering my butt in the innertube, causing me to fall into the fairly warm river. Once we

People–not us- tubing on the Delaware

were all launched, the outing was fun although by the last half hour we felt we were ready to get out of the water.

Another day we went to Ringing Rocks Park, an eight acre field of boulders, some of which make a quasi-musical note when struck with a hammer.  If ever you go there bring one.

Scrambling over rocks minus hammer

I had two dinners at the Riegelsville Inn, one with friends, one with family, both lovely. I also met another friend of many years for lunch and a catch-up at the Doylestown Inn. Afterwards I went to the Michener Art Museum, named to honor author James Michener who was born in Doylestown,  and wrote Tales of the South Pacific, Centennial, Texas and The Bridges at Toki-ri among other works. Michener’s third wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, was interned along with her parents in a camp set up by the U.S. government during the early years of WWII.

Altogether, it was a lovely eleven days with interesting things to do and see and many good meals. Having invested heavily in local peaches, I made this peach crisp for one night’s dessert:

Peach Crisp by Yossi Arefi from NY Times Cooking:

3 pounds peaches cut into ½-inch slices (absolutely no need to peel)
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt
1cup all-purpose flour
½ packed cup light brown sugar
½ cup grams rolled oats (the same oats as used to make oatmeal)
½ cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces.

How To:
Heat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the center
In a large bowl, combine the peaches, granulated sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine, transfer to an 8-by-8 inch baking dish and press down gently to compact the fruit in the dish.
In another bowl add the flour, light brown sugar, oats and ¼ teaspoon salt; stir to combine. Add the butter and use your fingers or a pastry blender to mash the butter into the flour mixture until evenly mixed—it forms clumps.
Sprinkle the clumped mixture evenly over the peaches, then bake the crisp until the topping is golden brown and the peach juices are bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes.
Serve at room temp (or warm if just made) with vanilla ice cream.

If you remember the (very) old song, What did Delaware?” sing it. If you don’t, here it is, sung by Perry Como:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udei5HzMnfM