{I Really Like Your Peaches. Wanna Shake Your Tree.}

I spent some time fantasizing about making peach cobbler and peach pie with my stash

of fresh peaches from Schnepf Farms. Then reality came calling, and it said I should

consider my options. I am one of two people that live in this house. While I love anything

with baked fruit -- pie, bread, cobbler -- my triglycerides don't. And since the other one

of us isn't a huge sweets guy, I knew I'd eat too much of it if it was here. And then, in a

weak attempt to bring my fantasy cobbler into reality, I browsed for recipes. Seeing what

is in that stuff confirmed I would not make it. Not today!

So ......... I made Peach Jam. It was my first every jam/jelly/preserves attempt.



The recipe was so, so simple. Like, I've heard people say making jam is really easy, but I

always thought maybe they were exaggerating the simplicity of it all. Turns out, not so

much. It was totally free of complication. I chose a recipe by Michelle's because it only

called for one a half cups of sugar (as opposed to the five or seven cups in other recipes).

I followed her tips exactly, even down to the containers she used. I don't love how these

look -- all housed in plastic -- but I've always felt intimidated by the idea of jarring

anything. So, Ball's plastic freezer friendly jars with screw on lids won me over. A few
minutes later, we had nine little jars of peach jam. Of course, it's delightful on bread.

David's had some over vanilla ice cream and angel food cake, too. I was so happy it

turned out well!

And then ......... we made Peach Sorbet. Another first for us, and it was ultra easy.




David went to Macy's with me to buy the ice cream attachment for our KitchenAid mixer.

Then, we made the sorbet together the next day. I chose this recipe, another one from from

Michelle. It was too pure and natural to pass up -- peaches, honey, apple juice, ground

cloves, and cinnamon. That's it. No cream and no sugar! We both agreed next time we'd

use a little more honey and go lighter on the spices, but it was still very good. Another

simple, easy venture in the kitchen. I'll definitely look around for some more sorbet and

frozen yogurt recipes. (If you have one you love, please share.) I'd like to do this again

now that we have the ice cream maker.

I had a few peaches left after all that ......... So, I whipped up some heaven on a plate.

Peaches roasted with fresh rosemary over angel food cake and vanilla ice cream.

This might have been my favorite. It tasted very gourmet. :)

Now I know I could have easily handled twice the peaches. It seemed like so many when

I was picking them, but I found a lot of good ways to use them up quickly. It was a fun

adventure with a beautiful, pesticide-free, fuzzy fruit. I'll definitely do it again.