Peaches Peaches Peaches.

This past Sunday the family went out to Carter Mountain in Charlottesville for a peach picking adventure.  I had gone peach picking one other time since living in Virginia but it was a little farther away.  I now remember why despite the amazing flavor of a tree ripened peach, I have not gone back in a while.  The picking was so easy for the kids as the trees were fairly young and short, that we ended up with 30 pounds of peaches...

Unlike apples that last a long time when stored properly, peaches have a shorter life span. So for the last two days I have been boiling, peeling and pitting peaches;especially the ones that were bruised in the picking process.  

Besides canning peaches which I have not tried, to save peaches for later use, you must peel,  slice  and freeze them on a cookie sheet before adding them to a freezer bag.  Since they will still probably freeze together slightly, you may want to premeasure the peaches before you bag them..  I found 4 cups bags serve well for many recipes.  For a quick peeling solution, revisit this post of Peach, Blueberry Crisps.

I thought I would share some of the recipes I have tried this week over the next two posts.

Quick Peach Bread (or Muffins)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2-2 1/2 cups chopped peaches
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour ( I used half whole wheat flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 325
Beat eggs, oil, and sugar; cream well.  Add peaches and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients and nuts, until blended (do not overbeat).  Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake at 325 for one hour.
This batter may also be baked as muffins – bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.


Too hot to have your oven on for 1 hr for a hot pie, try this refreshing cold version.

Cream Cheese Peach Pie
1 9 inch pie shell, unbaked
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches, divided
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs butter
3 oz cream cheese, softened
whipped cream for garnish.

Bake pie shell at 350' for 9 to 11 mins. until brown.  Set aside to cool.

Crush 2 cups of peaches in a saucepan.  Add sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and buter.  Cook over low heat until thickened. Cool.

Spread cream cheese in pie shell. (easiest to use an off set spatula)

Top with remaining 2 cups of peaches.  Pour cooked peach mixture over the sliced peaches.

Refrigerate or serve immediately with whipped topping.

Pies are a great way to use up an abundance of fruit. last night I also made a peach blueberry pie.  However I did not bake it, did you know that you can prepare most fruit pies without custard and freeze them to bake later.  Simply prepare the pie per the directions up the part in which you egg/milk wash the crust and sprinkle with sugar. Then cover the entire pie in tin foil and then place it into a freezer bag and freeze up to 6 months.

To bake the pie, unwrap the pie, glaze the crust if you wish, bake it at 425 for 10 minutes, cut vents i the top and bake for 20 minutes more.  reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake the pie until thick juices bubble through the vent, about 1 hr longer.

Now what to do with the other 15 lbs.....