Bling Bling Peaches for the Oscars

Tonight is the night, folks! Can you feel it? That electricity in the air? The anticipation, the excitement, the snarky comments of Joan Rivers, and the fake smile of Ryan Seacrest? It's a night when we get to see the glamazons and titans of Hollywood strutting their feathers on the red carpet. The results in those tiny envelopes can skyrocket someone's career to the stars, while at the same time send their peers shooting down in flames. It's a time to make a fashion statement, a political statement, ANY statement, because the world is watching.

And we, the world, can't wait to judge them. HeeheehehehahahAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

Overdramatic, you say?! Well, tonight is all about the drama!

One of my (and most women's) favorite part about tonight is the red carpet fashions. I get so excited when someone looks way better than I've ever seen them, and so disappointed when others go the safe route. But let's face it, the most fun is when someone wears something truly atrocious! It's SO bad that you can't take your eyes off of it! Lately, the stars have been pretty tame, but I have high hopes for this year. Someone's got to go the way of Bjork-in-the-swan-dress tonight!

But let's keep things pretty between us, dear readers. To whet your appetites, here are some glamourous dresses I spotted here in NYC. Who do you think would look good in these?

This one's got Penelope Cruz written all over it!

Some young thing with long legs could rock this - Dakota Fanning perhaps? Or maybe Heidi Klum, who has the guts to wear something so out there! But it's too casual for the Oscars, if you ask me.

Kate Winslet, because she's got classic tastes.

We're going to need something to eat while watching the Oscars, folks. It's going to be a long show. I can't miss that Slumdog Millionaire nominated song which will be performed on stage tonight! So yes, we'll need some fortifying grub that not only looks fantastic, but makes you feel amazing on the inside. And this year, I pick this Bling-Bling Peach & Blueberry Cobbler. A humble dessert when you break it down, because it doesn't seem to require a lot of effort. But those peaches and blueberries remind me of precious jewels, nestled in that caramely cobbler mix, waiting to be crowned by a dollop of ice-cream. It's a perfect dessert (even though it doesn't have a smidgen of chocolate). It smells like what heaven SHOULD smell like (you listening, God?), it has the right amount of sweetness, freshness, gooeyiness, and crunch. And let's not forget, before it goes into the oven it just looks so darn PRETTY!

(Note: Not so pretty when it comes out of the oven; just very beige and brown overall, but underneath that are those jewel-like fruits, waiting to be exposed! Sounds so naughty!)

Bling-Bling Peach & Blueberry Cobbler (inspired by Peabody's version and the one on Pick Your Own's site)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 medium ripe peaches

1/4 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Method:

1. Fill up a medium saucepan with water and set it to boil. Once it's boiling, dunk the ripe peaches in the boiling water for 1 min. Then take them out and immediately put them in an ice-bath (ice-cubes and cold water). Now you should be able to take the skin off very easily, with your fingers.

2. Slice the skinned peaches and keep aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the butter in an 8" x 8" baking pan, and leave it in the oven to melt completely.

4. In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking powder. Mix in the milk and vanilla. Then pour the batter over the melted butter in the baking pan. Do NOT stir!

5. Take the sliced peach and scatter them over the top of the batter. At the same time, add the blueberries and pecans. No need to arrange in any pattern like I did, because everything just get covered up by the batter after it's baked! I was just mesmerized by those gorgeous peaches, and couldn't get enough of staring at them!

6. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on top of it all.

7. Place the 8" x 8" pan on a baking sheet and put in the oven. Let it bake for 45 mins.

8. Once you see that the top is golden brown, take it out and let it rest for 15 mins before serving it, preferably with good vanilla ice-cream.

Verdict: I've made this recipe twice already. The first time was in round pie-pan, which just wasn't deep enough, so the mixture overflowed a bit. It was still incredibly delicious though! Second time I got it right by using the correct square pan. I've got to say, this is my current favorite dessert. Yes, even more than cheesecake! I think it's the combination of the brown sugar flavor, the juicy ripe peaches (I give them SO much more respect now!), the crunch from the pecans, the hot temperature of the cobbler, with the cold ice-cream melting all over it ... ack! I'll miss the Oscars if I sit here day-dreaming about it! Time for me to grab a bowl for meself and DH (who is so oblivious to my Oscar-fever) and plunk myself down in front of my good 'ol idiot box for a night of magic!

By the way, I'm going to give in to a tiny bit of narcissism and submit one of these photos to Gayathri's Magnificent Click Contest 2009! She is doing something wonderful for wannabe food photographers like myself - THAAAAAAAANK you G!