One Lucky Girl: A Friend Arrived with Pastries and Peaches

My love of ridiculous appliances continues.  Of course I could "can" my jams and pickles with the water bath method.  But wouldn't having an appliance with a "pickles" button be way more fun?  Yes!

My husband gave me the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning System for my birthday - woohoo! I hadn't used it yet, but was gushing about it with my friend Liz and she offered to be my wingman on the maiden voyage. We had so much fun! 

We chose a Thursday night after work and she arrived with Lebanese takeout for our dinner, two fancy desserts (my birthday!) and an armload of peaches to turn into jam.  What a friend.

We followed these instructions for reduced sugar peach jam word for word and we created a new tradition (obsession?).  It was so easy we started plotting what else we could can/jar/preserve/pickle.

I'll tell you more about the machine, process and results later. Just know that I love it and don't feel ridiculous at all. Small batch canning is just my speed.

Glossy Sauteed Peaches with Frozen Yogurt

Peaches make life better. I am getting way more than my recommended daily allowance of fruit during peach season, and I feel great. Yesterday, instead of having some fresh peach with my Greek yogurt for breakfast, I saved it to be the star of dessert. 

I cooked my peach by "poaching" it, I placed the 2 halves, cut side down in a large saute pan in a mixture made of equal parts sugar and water (1/3 cup each?), a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and an inch of vanilla bean (only if you have it, no need to add vanilla otherwise).  I put the burner on medium and let the fruit cook about 10 minutes - be sure to watch it so that it doesn't burn.The peach I had was still quite firm.  The good news is that all of that hardness disappears when you cook them.  When the peach has cooked, pull out the piece of vanilla bean stem and discard.  

There will be a magic moment when the peaches have caramelized/deepened in color and the remaining liquid will be reduced to a glossy peach-infused syrup.  I serve my peach half with a small scoop of my favorite "ice cream." Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Blends in Vanilla.  It is creamy, contains live active cultures and counts as a good source of calcium.  

You must try this while fresh peaches are still available.  Promise me...

Preserving Summer

Let me start off with this: These are real peaches.  Gorgeous, glistening, perfectly ripe peaches.  If this photo doesn't say "August," then I don't know what would!

You have noticed my foray into preserving Summer and I think this will be my biggest success.  I decided to try the freezing method, as I think that will keep the fruit closest to right off the tree fresh.

First I washed and sterilized jars in the dishwasher and simmered the lids in a pan of water.  Then I cut an "X" in the bottom of each peach and blanched it in hot water, then scooped it out of the hot water and into an ice bath to prevent further cooking.  This method helps the skin to release and you can see the results above - perfectly peeled peaches. 

I then sliced the peaches into a large bowl and sprinkled them with Fruit Fresh, to preserve their color and prevent browning.

I dissolved 1 cup of sugar in 2 cups water and brought it to a boil.  Pack the peach slices into the jars (leaving about an inch for expansion in freezer) and pour syrup over them (make sure there is still an inch of room for expansion).  Jiggle contents with a wooden skewer or narrow tool, to release any trapped air bubbles.

Wipe rim clean.  Place clean lid onto jar.  Screw band on tight and freeze!

Caramelized Peaches



These caramelized peaches were a happy accident.  Intending to "poach" the fresh peaches, I placed them cut side down in a large saute pan in a syrup made of equal parts sugar and water, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and an inch of vanilla bean.  I put the burner on medium and...answered the phone?  Checked the computer?  

Do not follow my example, it was a close call and I almost burned up the pan as well as the peaches.  But I arrived at the magic moment when the peaches had caramelized and the remaining liquid had reduced to a glossy peach-infused syrup.  You can make this incredible (and easy!) dessert too, just please stay in the kitchen and keep an eye on things.

The peaches I bought were large and still quite hard.  The good news is that all of that hardness disappears when you cook them.  I served each peach half with a small scoop of my favorite "ice cream."  Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Blends in Vanilla.  It is creamy, contains live active cultures and counts as a good source of calcium.  What more could a girl want?

Sweet Peach Pound Cake

I thought that it sounded good, sure, but who knew how delicious Sweet Peach Pound Cake would be?

I love baking and have an entire section of pound cake recipes collected in my baking notebook. 

Well, everyone ate 2 pieces of this beauty last night, quite a triumph in today's "Oh no, none for me" world.

I am very happy with this recipe and I hope that you give it a try with some fresh August peaches - yum! The recipe is here at allrecipes.com.