• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Book Index
    • Fiction
    • Non-Fiction
    • Top Ten Tuesdays
The Hungry Bookworm

The Hungry Bookworm

reading + eating

  • Recipes
    • Drinks
    • Snacks, Sides & Apps
    • Main Dishes
    • Desserts
    • 5 Ingredients or Less
  • About
    • Meet Megan
    • How I Rate
    • Review Policy
    • Contact

fruit

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies + Peach Cobbler

March 13, 2021 by Megan 1 Comment

It’s well-documented over my years blogging here that short stories aren’t for me… usually. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of short story collections I’ve truly enjoyed. That being said, Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is one such collection. And I didn’t just like it — I loved it. It was my first 5-star read of the year and my first 5-star short story collection ever. 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Available on Bookshop.org and Amazon

It’s a slim volume, so I expected to get through it quickly but it ended up going even faster than I thought — I finished it the same day I started. I couldn’t put it down, which is unusual for me with a short story collection since it has several natural "take a break" points. The stories in Church Ladies focus on Black women and their varied relationships. They are told with insight and nuance, each word chosen with precision. Each story quickly drew me in, kept me engaged and then ended without leaving me wanting. 

The best part of this collection is that there was a clear food tie-in, which meant I got to write a review-recipe pairing for it! That food? Peach cobbler. There is, in fact, a story titled for the dessert in which it plays a feature role, and it’s mentioned in at least one other story too. It was possibly my favorite story, though I loved so many of them, it’s hard to pick a true favorite. 

Anyway, "Peach Cobbler" starts as such: 

My mother’s peach cobbler was so good it made God himself cheat on his wife. 

The main character watches her mother making the cobbler covertly, longing "to perfect the sweetness and textures" of her mother’s recipe. She also describes eating it:

I grabbed a handful of the cobbler and shoved it all in my mouth at once. The sugary juice dribbled over the corner of my mouth down to my chin as I chewed. I savored the peaches and the soft bits of crust soaked through with the syrup. 

Now, if that doesn’t make you want to gobble down your own peach cobbler, I don’t know what will. But I absolutely had to have some. I googled around to see if Philyaw herself shared a recipe somewhere, since she wrote about the "best cobbler in the world" with some authority, but I couldn’t find one. So, I settled for a Southern peach cobbler recipe that the creator says she spent an entire summer perfecting. 

I can’t help but agree that it is very delicious, even though I had to use canned peaches because fresh aren’t in season right now. (In the story, the mother uses fresh, except when not in season and is described as taking great care to drain the canned peaches, so I felt okay doing the same. But I can’t wait to try making it with fresh fruit this summer!)

As I mentioned before, I started with canned peaches. I used 5 cans, or what ended up being just over 6 cups. I drained 3 of the cans and used the juice from the other two, as the recipe creator recommended using about half the juice when using canned peaches. I cut them into bite-size chunks, except when the slices were already small or thin.

I tossed them with lemon juice, white and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch. Then, I poured them into a 9x13 glass baking dish. 

Peaches for cobbler

I baked the peaches for 10 minutes in a 425-degree oven. Meanwhile, I made the topping. 

I grated cold butter using my food processor.

Grated Butter

Then I combined the dry ingredients — flour, white and brown sugars again, salt and baking powder. To them, I added the grated butter and then a half cup of boiling water, stirring it all together until just combined. 

Crust topping for cobbler

I used a small spoon to drop the crust in dollops onto the peaches. 

Crust on unbaked cobbler

I sprinkled the whole thing with cinnamon sugar and then slipped the dish back into the oven to bake for just under a half hour, until the crust was baked through and golden. 

Peach Cobbler

It was a mouthwatering pairing for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies — one that I will absolutely be making again.

Peach Cobbler inspired by The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Peach Cobbler Piece
Print Recipe

Peach Cobbler

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Total Time1 hr
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Southern
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Peach Filling

  • 8 medium-size fresh peaches* (about 9-10 cups) sliced into thin wedges or bite size chunks
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch

Crust Topping

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 12 tablespoons butter chilled and grated
  • 1/2 cup boiling water

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425°F. Place a large baking sheet covered in foil on the lowest rack in the oven, as the cobbler may overflow. The baking pan will catch the drips and prevent a mess in the oven.
  • In a large bowl, combine the peaches and the lemon juice and then add the rest of the filling ingredients. Stir to coat and then pour into a 9x13 baking dish.
  • Bake the peach mixture in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. While the peaches are baking, combine the dry topping ingredients and whisk to combine. Toss the grated butter in the flour mixture. Stir in the boiling water, just until combined, leaving plenty of little lumps of butter.
  • Remove the peaches from the oven and drop the topping over them in spoonfuls. Sprinkle the cobbler topping with the cinnamon sugar topping. Bake until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted into the crust comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Notes

From: Barefeet in the Kitchen
*If using canned peaches, use about 5 cans, or 6-7 cups. Drain about half of the juice (or 3 out of 5 cans worth). 
Use a cheese grater or grating attachment in a food processor to cut the butter in quickly.

This post contains affiliate links. This does not increase the price you pay, but I may receive a small commission for any products you choose to buy. Purchases made through affiliate links help to cover my blogging costs. Thank you for helping to support The Hungry Bookworm! Full disclosure here.

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, dessert, easy prep, favorites, fiction, fruit, short story

Devolution + Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Popsicles

January 19, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Max Brooks’ Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre is a wild ride. It is told primarily through the journal of Kate, a resident of the secluded Greenloop when it was attacked, along with a few post-massacre interviews. It’s both a scientific observation and a horror story, as we first discover Sasquatch (aka Bigfoot) with her and then watch as she and the other residents frantically scramble to protect and defend themselves when Bigfoot attacks.

Devolution by Max Brooks
Available at Bookshop.org and Amazon

This is the kind of book where I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that the book is not what it seems at the outset — which to me, at least, was a far-fetched romp about Bigfoot. Brooks does an excellent job of building his characters and the action. First, it progresses slowly, luring you in, and then aggressively so you can’t help but turn pages faster to keep up. I love seeing how different people cope in a time of crisis, and this is a study in those differences. 

[Read more...] about Devolution + Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Popsicles

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: dessert, easy prep, fiction, five ingredients or less, fruit, quick read

Hamnet + British Apple Pie

October 17, 2020 by Megan Leave a Comment

I first heard about Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet on my favorite book recommendation podcast, All the Books, when Liberty Hardy raved about it. The concept sounded intriguing, but I didn’t add it to my TBR. I started seeing it more and more on bookstagram and decided to request a copy from the library, but by then the waitlist was quite long. Then, it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Someone I’d been following closely on Instagram had read it and was beyond excited that it won. This someone also happened to live less than a mile from my house. I knew I needed to read it. 

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

So I reached out, asked if I could borrow her copy, and she generously said yes! I dropped by and picked it up off her porch, we chatted out the window for a few minutes, and off I went. If it weren’t for her, I may still be waiting on the library waitlist. 

[Read more...] about Hamnet + British Apple Pie

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, book club, favorites, fiction, fruit, historical fiction

The House in the Cerulean Sea + Blackberry Ice Cream

August 25, 2020 by Megan 5 Comments

I recently read and adored The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. I haven’t been this excited to talk about a book in a very long time. 

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

TJ Klune’s novel is a fantasy about a group of magical beings on a secluded island. For those of you who may be skeptical about fantasy, I want to clarify that on the whole, it’s quite realistic — apart from the magical beings. Our main character, Linus, works for a government agency providing recommendations as to whether or not orphanages should remain open or be shut down. The orphanages happen to be home to children with special abilities.

[Read more...] about The House in the Cerulean Sea + Blackberry Ice Cream

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: dessert, fantasy, favorites, fiction, fruit, ice cream

Kids Edition: Curious George Makes Pancakes

August 22, 2020 by Megan 7 Comments

Welcome to the first Kids Edition post on The Hungry Bookworm! Today we will be talking about a charming little monkey and his culinary adventures in Curious George Makes Pancakes. 

Curious George Makes Pancakes

George is a good little monkey. He is also very curious. This curiosity makes for a lot of antics that we love reading about with my son Henry. 

[Read more...] about Kids Edition: Curious George Makes Pancakes

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: breakfast, children's, easy prep, fruit, kids edition

Kindred + Upside-Down Peach Cake

August 18, 2020 by Megan 1 Comment

Octavia Butler’s Kindred is a book I’ve always wanted to read, and thankfully, finally got around to thanks to my book club. In the 1970s, this was the first science fiction novel written by a black woman. It became Butler’s best-selling novel, and she went on to win multiple Hugo and Nebula awards. 

Kindred by Octavia E Butler

In Kindred, Dana is a 26-year-old black woman living in California with her husband, a white man named Kevin. Inexplicably, on her birthday, she is pulled back in time to the antebellum South, where she rescues a young boy named Rufus. She is only there long enough to save him and just as suddenly as she appeared, disappears back in the present. As the story goes on, Dana continues to be drawn back into Rufus’ life to save him. Until she is pulled back to her time, she must learn to blend in, which means, in that time and place, becoming a slave.

[Read more...] about Kindred + Upside-Down Peach Cake

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, book club, dessert, easy prep, fruit, historical fiction, science fiction

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

About

The Hungry Bookworm brings together literature and food. Megan has an insatiable appetite for both.

As C.S. Lewis said, “Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” Enjoy!

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Subscribe

Don't miss out on bookish content, exclusive giveaways, and of course, book club-friendly recipes. Get notified of new posts via email.

Join 2879 subscribers.

Search for Ingredients, Recipes, or Books

Recent Posts

  • Subscriber Box Review: Literati Book Club - Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club
  • Arsenic and Adobo + Ensaymada
  • Review of The Kindred Spirits Supper Club
  • Kids Edition: Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball + "Dirt" Pudding Cups
  • The Midnight Library + Broccoli and Ricotta Toast

Goodreads

Tags

5 ingredients or less appetizer baking book club book list book of the month books about food bread breakfast brunch chicken contemporary cookies cultural dessert dinner dinner party dystopia easy prep favorites fiction fruit historical fiction holiday ice cream linkup lunch meat memoir mini review nonfiction pasta quick read reading challenge science fiction seafood show us your books side dish snack soup TBR list thriller top ten tuesday vegetarian veggies

Archives

Other Great Book Blogs

Literary Quicksand
Never Enough Novels
Death by Tsundoku
Professional Reader 25 Book Reviews
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Footer Widget Header

Megan’s Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Hungry Bookworm