peach harvest

We harvested a beautiful, fully-laden peach tree last week -- and spent the next several days putting up gallons and gallons of peaches!

The bountiful tree yielded about 600 ripe organically-grown peaches.


By the time our appetites are ready for peaches again, winter will be upon us . . .

**

Recipe for freezing fresh peach slices:

We peeled, pitted and sliced the peaches. They were spooned into plastic Ziploc freezer bags.

We sprinkled each gallon of peach slices with about 1/2 cup sugar and about 1/2 cup lemon juice.

Then the air was squeezed out of the bags as much as possible.

The bags were zipped shut and placed in the freezer.

peach cobbler redefined

I got off to a good start. Fixed a fresh peach cobbler in a clear glass pie plate.

It was simple:
3 or 4 peaches sliced,
a little water,
a little brown sugar,
cinnamon

Topped with pie crust from a box, patted flat between my hands. I arranged the crust on top of the filing and put the pie in the carefully pre-heated 350 degree F oven.

While we ate sandwiches for lunch, I checked on the cobbler. Definitely looking good! Needs fifteen more minutes, I told myself.

So I went back to graphic design on my computer in the basement. And forgot about the cobbler. Really. Didn't think about it again for two hours -- when I went upstairs for something and smelled a very sweet smell.

The cobbler was burnt to a blackened crisp. Nothing left worth photographing.

"Well, at least it smells good!" said Boo.

Which reminds me, didn't I say the aroma of good food cooking fills me up as much as eating the food?

Guess it is true . . .

Small unsweetened fruit pies

Fruit pie in the summer is always a big hit around here. Last night's pies were cooked in pot pie foil pans, making individual servings.

First:
I used a boxed pie crust, adding water to the dry ingredients and mixing in a bowl, per the box instructions.

• 
  

Then I rolled out two small pie crusts for each pie -- enough to make five little two-crust pies. It turned out that I had enough pie crust mix for one extra round for a crust. That round became our only turnover. (Eleven pie crusts rounds total.)

Meanwhile, Guy sliced:
2 apples
1 peach
15 seedless red grapes (approximately)

He mixed them in a bowl with:
2 or 3 tablespoons tapioca
powdered cinnamon to taste
powdered allspice to taste
a splash of lemon juice

Then he divided the fruit mixture evenly amongst

the 6 small pie pans lined with a bottom crust.

I put on the top crusts, trimming off the excess crust overhanging the edge of the pie pans, and cut two slashes in the top of each pie for steam to escape.

• 

The sixth pie, with only one crust ,was treated like a turnover. After the fruit was added to the single crust lining the pan,I folded the excess crust back over the top of the filling -- sort of wrapping it up.

We cooked the pies on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree F oven.

When they start smelling great and turning brown, the pies are done -- about 20 -30 minutes, I guess.


Review:

5 forks for delicious taste and creating demand for more fruit pies!