on the lighter side

I am a magazine binge/purger. I will save up various issues of fashion, food and fitness magazines until I realize that they are basically recycling the same material with a fancy new package. Then I will obsessively comb through each one to find that "ultra important" article and keep the ones that I truly cannot do without. It all started with my personal adolescent bible of the beloved seventeen magazine that I began hoarding around age 14. It's odd how you basically outgrow that magazine once you officially hit its namesake age. From there I became obsessed with In Style (thank you Grandma Patty) until I realized I could just find the juicy parts on their website. Thanks to Mommy Dearest and Father Fartknocker I receive Yankee (don't mock, it has provided me with amazing history, hiking and food of the area, I may become a New Englander just yet!). Grandma Sue (aforementioned owner of 30+ years of Gourmet) has provided me with Cook's Illustrated, for the ultimate nerdy culinary lover (it's like the Consumer Reports of kitchen gadgetry and experimentation!). Don't get me started on my love of the hand-illustrated tips and techniques (the parental units forking over a ton for a degree revolving around technical illustrating has a purpose, really). To buffer the food magazines, I get a nice dose of Fitness magazine every month to serve as a hotplate for my baked goods. I had a subscription hiatus after graduating college and moving in with Torren's fam for a couple of years but all was not lost- his mother had oodles of magazines arriving every week from LHJ to Women's Health to Parents. Yes, that last one is a gem. You can thank me later because today's recipe is coming from there, mwahahahaha. I cannot wait to make the ferris-wheel cake I found in the same issue. My mind is like a safe when it comes to crazy crap like this!

Now you're probably wondering "why bother with print when it is online?" Well folks, I obviously come from a long line of people who love tactile print for all it's worth. I love everything from the layout to the ability to rip something out and stick it on a wall or in my recipe file. Several of these subscriptions do not offer the same information online that they do in their magazine and/or there are extensions of things on the internets. I usually ogle both the print and the site and from there find links to other glorious reading. Ultimately, though, there is nothing like snail mail. I am overjoyed to receive these little gifted subscriptions every month and remember who bought them for me originally. I just love mail. We covet stationery as much or perhaps more than we do our hard drives. I won't tell you about the boxes of letters and cards I have stashed in my cramped home. Don't call me crazy, in fact, don't call me. Send me something in the mail and I'll treasure it forever.

The below recipe has been adapted to fit a certain person's {cough}torrenchristiandoherty{cough} palate. I also did some tweaking to make it "healthified" and the recipe came out tasting delish. I love the original nectarine version because they are definitely in my top three favorite fruits. It's easy to play around with the fruit in this so please do experiment!

Bluebarb Buckle

adapted from Bluberry Nectarine Buckle from Parents
Yield: 9 servings

INGREDIENTS
2 C biscuit mix I used Biquick Heart Smart to lighten the recipe
1 C sugar, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten 1/4 C liquid egg works fine here
1/2 C fat free milk
1 t finely shredded lemon peel
1 medium nectarine, pitted and chopped it couldn't hurt to add another nectarine, this is where I used 1 C chopped rhubarb as a sub
1-1/4 C fresh blueberries
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C butter I used the light stick butter here

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use non-stick foil or grease the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides of a 1-1/2- to 2-quart baking dish (I'm lame and only have a 9 inch x 13 inch and it worked FINE).
1. In a medium bowl, combine biscuit mix, 1/2 cup sugar, the egg, milk, and lemon peel. Stir until moistened.
2. Spoon batter into pan. Top with fruit.
3. Mix flour and remaining sugar in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly; sprinkle over fruit.
4. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool for 20-30 min.  Serve warm (probably good with some vanilla bean or blueberry fro-yo, you think?)


Nutrition: (light) 280 cal, 4g fat, 360mg sod, 57g carb,  27g sugar, 2g fiber, 5g protein
(original) 304 cal, 10 g fat, 50 g carb, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.