Easy Peach Melba

January 13: National Peach Melba Day

We enjoy attending symphonies, concerts and operas once in a while as a musical treat to ourselves.  We admire the abilities of the musicians and wish we were as good as them. Both of us play the piano and have been in the music ministry. Highlander also plays the guitar and has taken drum and trumpet lessons while Islander played the clarinet in her junior high school band and strums a few ‘ukulele chords with her brother, Kahuna, who plays other instruments at church as well.

We also like to eat musically-inspired desserts, such as Peach Melba, as a tasty treat for ourselves. Like the individual talents that each musician contributes to a group to create musical harmony, we appreciate the independent ingredients like peaches and raspberries with vanilla ice and whipped cream to make a pretty parfait-like fruit fusion.

Make music for your mouth and prepare Peach Melba for National Peach Melba Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Scena and Taste of Home)

Ingredients

• 1 can of peach halves in heavy syrup
• ½ cup seedless red raspberry jam (we used Smucker’s brand)
• vanilla ice cream (we used Breyer’s brand lactose-free)
• whipped cream (we used Cool Whip)
• fresh raspberries

Directions

Drain the can of peaches and dry the fruit with paper towels. In a dessert bowl or cup, place two peach halves. Set aside. In a microwave safe cup, heat the jam for about 20 seconds and stir until smooth.

Scoop vanilla ice cream on top of the peaches. Drizzle with the melted jam. Pipe a swirl of whipped cream on top, adding a little more melted jam if desired, and garnish with fresh raspberries.

Notes

• Peach Melba is a dessert named after opera singer Dame Nellie Melba and was created in her honor by a fan, Chef Auguste Escoffier, in the 1900s. He also made Melba Toast, which is observed on National Melba Toast Day on March 23. See our version of the recipe which we posted on our blog.
• Try another treat that is musically-inspired—a marzipan-like dessert called Cecilias, on the Feast Day of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, on November 22.
• Search our blog for more recipes posts on peaches.

Curried Chicken Salad

and Sandwich

January 12: National Curried Chicken Day

Highlander has a hearty chicken salad or sandwich sometimes for lunch at work to tide him over till dinnertime. But some salads and sandwiches are bland so he likes his chunky chicken kicked up with curry flavor and slightly sweetened with slices of grapes. Celery and almonds also add a refreshing taste and crunchy texture. Our adaptation of a curried chicken recipe as a salad and sandwich is just as satifsying as a stew, which we have also prepared in the past, for National Curried Chicken Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Weight Watchers and Wonderful Ways to Prepare Chicken by Jo Ann Shirley)

Ingredients

• 2 breasts chicken, cooked
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• ½ cup grapes
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ cup almonds, blanched and slivered
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• water

Directions

Coarsely chop the cooked chicken. Dice the celery. Cut the grapes in half.

Chop the onions. In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, celery, grapes and onions with the mayonnaise. Stir in the lemon juice. Mix in the almonds. Season with salt and pepper.

In a small cup, make a paste with the curry powder and a little water. Mix it in with the chicken salad until well blended. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to mingle. Arrange with fresh lettuce leaves in a chilled bowl and serve as a salad. Or spread between two slices of bread and a lettuce leaf and serve as a sandwich.

Notes

• For another curried chicken sandwich recipe, try the tea time version called Coronation Chicken.
• For curried chicken stew recipes, cook Kukul Mas (Sri Lankan version) or microwave our Hawaiian version.
• Search our blog for other recipes containing curry as an ingredient.

Hot Toddy

January 11: National Hot Toddy Day

On long winter weekends, Highlander and his former roommate, Mike B., would drive from Northern California where they used to live and go skiing together in Oregon. The bachelors would head to Mount Bachelor and hit the slopes when the sun was up, then return to their lodge when the sun went down. After a full day of physical activity out in the cold, they relaxed and kept warm with a Hot Toddy. This simple, spirited Scottish drink is said to soothe a head cold or flu, relieve congestion and promote rest. Have a Hot Toddy to keep warm on a winter night, calm a cold and commemorate National Hot Toddy Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Wikipedia)

Ingredients

• 1 shot (1 ounce) Scotch whisky
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon honey (we used Big Island Bees brand Macadamia Nut Blossom flavor)
• 2 whole cloves
• lemon slice
• cinnamon stick

Directions

In a mug or glass, pour the whisky. Add boiling water. Mix in the honey. Drop in the cloves, lemon and cinnamon stick. Steep for 3-5 minutes. Enjoy hot!