Just Peachy!

If somebody asked me about my day today, I would have to say that it has been just peachy!  After we went to the peach orchard yesterday (see more about that HERE), I was faced with several peck bags of the sweet, fuzzy treasures. 

As you know, they won't last forever; so, I was faced with preserving them in some way today.  I really felt like my Mama or one of my grandmothers when a friend called and asked what I was up to today because my response was, "Puttin' up peaches!" 

I started with these bags this morning.

The late night news is being broadcast and I am still boiling peaches for pie filling.  Those peaches produced eleven half-pints of peach butter (some may call it preserves because it isn't really buttery since it still has chunks of peaches in it); three quarts of frozen peaches; a big peach pie; and a quart of sliced peaches to eat with my cereal.  When this pie filling is done, I'll also have five and a half pints of it.  Plus, there is still a bag and a half of peaches left! 

The peach butter/preserves sure is tasty on a left-over biscuit!  I had to try a little bit.  Then, after tasting it, I didn't even try to seal one of the jars, I immediately put it in the fridge to have with breakfast in the morning.  Mike stuck his finger in the pot for a taste and claimed that it is "really good."  Remember, this is coming from a man who turns his nose up at the thought of eating fruit.  I got the recipe from my Mom who got it from Jessie at Pratt's Peach Orchard.  You can find my rendition of the recipe HERE.

The peach pie turned out looking like something pictured in a 'real' cookbook.  The good news is that it tasted delicious as well.  When I told Mike I was going to make him a pie like this, he was a bit skeptical.  He has only eaten cobbler before and wasn't sure if he would like a fruit pie with a crust.  It must have been a hit because half of the pie is gone!  (In all fairness, he did only have a sandwich for dinner because I was still elbow deep in peaches and I did eat one slice.)  The recipe is my mother's and if you want to give it a try you can find it HERE.

The pie filling tastes wonderful and looks beautiful.  I'll have to report on the actual use and taste of the finished product - fried pies - later.  My back and legs are just too tired to try that out tonight, too.  It was really an easy thing to prepare for freezing, though.  Plus, that makes the preserving of the peaches have very little waste - only the pits!  My Daddy said it is like using all of the pig except the squeal.  If you want to utilize your peelings, you can find my rendition of this recipe HERE. 

I have made a pie using Mama's recipe before but it was years ago and I had forgotten how to do it.  So, all of these endeavors today were a new experience for me except the slicing/dicing peaches for freezing and eating.  They turned out beautifully, too, and I will have the frozen quarts to use in recipes later. 

All-in-all I think I had a pretty productive day. 

Guess what is in store for tomorrow?  Mopping the kitchen because it is sticky and peachy!