Peachy Keen

I have been up to my elbows in peaches today. To start my kitchen session, I made a peach crisp. 

To make the crisp, I put the slices in a square baking dish, drizzled honey over the peaches, and topped with the same topping that I use for apple crisps.

While it was in the oven, I continued to peel and slice peaches for other uses. After the crisp came out of the oven I had errands to tend to and a small amount of work for  the Galion Inquirer, so the sliced peaches got shoved into the fridge...but not for long. Those peaches are soon to be turned into peach/pear salsa and peach butter.

****True Confession****

I've never made peach butter, but decided to make it this year because I think it is healthier than jam, which uses a TON of sugar. I looked several recipes up online and, once again, after understanding the method and ingredients, decided to make my own recipe.

Most recipes say to cook the peaches and then run through a sieve to get that nice, smooth texture. However, my NutriBullet blender was right at eye-level when I was peeling the peaches, and an idea crept into my brain: why not run the peach slices through the blender, then add sweetener and spices? Sounds a WHOLE lot easier to me...what do you think? (check the "agree" box).

So that is what I am off to do as soon as this blog blab gets published.

My plan: puree the peaches in the NutriBullet, heat the puree on the stove, add honey and cinnamon. 

Batta Boom....DONE!


*S*W*E*E*T*

Marcheta *off I go, into the wild peachy yonder

With a Little Help from my Friends

Picking fruit is fun....for about five minutes. Then it becomes a chore, especially when a lot of stretching or bending comes into play. 

Lucky for me, I have several friends who don't mind picking their own fruit and then hanging around to help me. Yesterday, Denise came over after work. Not only did she pick peaches and pears, she cleaned onions that had to be pulled from the garden.

Our garden, along with most, is a disaster this year. The veggies didn't stand a chance against the rain but the weeds loved it and went wild. Well, wilder than usual...no matter what our Spring intentions are we always seem to end up with a messy garden at harvest. But, with a bounty of fresh veggies, we don't let it get us down too much. This year, there's not a whole lot of payoff in those weed patches :(

Thank goodness for farmers markets. The vendors at the two markets that we set up at are struggling, too, but so far we've been able to eat a nice variety of fresh, locally grown produce this year.

Marcheta *thankful for friendship

Apples and Peaches and Pears.....OH MY!

Today I hit the Fruit Trifecta jackpot! Which, is not a bad place to be.













Today's work includes picking Wealthy Apples, freestone peaches, and Red Bartlett pears for tomorrow's NorthSide Farmers Market. Denise came out to help, but the crop is just coming so it did not take us long.

I am really disappointed in the size of our fruit this year. I thought all the rain that we had would make large fruit, but now I am wondering if lack of sun caused the fruit to stop growing. One thing that I do know, so far everything I've "taste tested" is very, very good.

On Wednesday or Thursday, Denise and I are planning to make peach butter and other goodies. I've never made peach butter so asked Denise about it. She said that basically, you just cook down peaches and mush them up, like you do for apple or pear sauce. She does not add sugar, but I am thinking that a touch of local honey (ours!) and a bit of apple or pumpkin pie spice would be nice. I won't know until I try it, and I am really looking forward to our cooking day!



Marcheta *busy, busy