That’s just peachy – Vol. 1

This is the first part of a five part non-knitting related rant.  I have a peach tree.  It makes a lot of peaches… a lot of peaches. 

 A small sampling

So many in fact that we have not – in the three summers we have lived here – been able to eat all of the peaches.  It seems like a real waste since we have this beautiful tree that gives us bright pink flowers in the spring followed by huge white peaches in the summer and we can’t even use or eat them all.  This year will be different – this year I have a mission: use or preserve ALL the usable peaches.  Over the next 5 postings, I will try to come up with interesting ways to preserve or use all of the peaches as they ripen.

Method 1: Pickled Peaches

Ok, I know the word “pickled” evokes thoughts of giant gurkens, picked in dill and spices, chilled and served cut lengthwise next to a sub sandwich.  Pickling can also be used to preserve fruit if the brine you are using is sweet – think canned peaches you can buy to make a peach pie in the middle of winter.

Recipe:

• 2 kg peaches (blanched to remove skin, halved and pitted)
• 10 dl sugar
• 5 dl water
• 5 dl pickling vinegar (the brown kind adds a pretty color)
• 1 vanilla pod, slit
• 3 cinnamon sticks, about 6 cm long
• OPTIONAL: other whole spices such as anis star, cloves, nutmeg

Place the water, vinegar and sugar in a pot and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Put in remaining ingredients and boil for 10-15 minutes or until the peaches are soft enough to easily poke through with a fork.  Place peaches with fluid and whole spices in jars and place them in a hot water bath to seal the containers (think jam making here).  And Voila!  It’s just peachy:

 And it’s pretty to look at too!

del.icio.us Tags: peaches,preserving,fruit,canning,pickling