Went shopping last night and discovered that peaches were in. Not those abominations of one of nature’s finest, commonly called the white peach🤢. No I mean honest to goodness yummy sweet yellow peaches that are soft and sweet and juicy (everything the white peach isn’t). After just cutting it into wedges and eating it that way, my second favorite way to eat this “ambrosia of the food of gods”(to use a misquote) is cut into bite sized pieces mixed into cold cereal, cheerios to be specific. Regular cheerios, not honey nut or mixed grain or any of those other variations. Corn flakes would be next in line.
So, what’s your favorite fruit and how do you like best to eat it.
We live in peach country here in Oregon. They’ve been in the farmers’ markets since July and we canned about 40 pounds of them for winter. A bowl of peaches in the morning is heaven, as are all the variations: peach cobbler, peach tart, peach shortcake, etc.
how the hell can I be living essentially right next door to Oregon peach country and we’re just now (well within the last couple weeks) getting peaches that aren’t those nasty white peach variety(we’ve had those “always”).
I blame the stupid backwards ignorant sumbritches in the legislature, though I’m sure the Governor has some blame due him also!
Peaches are absolutely my favorite summertime fruit. But where I am, it’s almost autumn and the peach season is drawing to a sad close. Where are you that they’re just now becoming available?
The best peaches I ever had–in fact, possibly the most delicious fruit I ever ate–were from a fruit stand in Maryhill, WA. I was camping at the state park there and had gone for a bike ride past the orchards and the smell was just heavenly. I stopped at the stand before heading back to my campsite and got a bag of peaches. They were truly the fruit of the gods, perfectly ripe, luscious and juicy, I scarfed down a couple in just moments, just an ideal snack on a warm day after a bike ride.
More than 25 years later, I’ve never found a peach as good as the ones I had that day. Looking at the map now, I see that there’s a RV park there now called Peach Beach…how very appropriate!
I have a peach tree. We’re eating them right now.
Peaches and cream are favorites.
Not cool whip. I whip cream. No sugar added. The fruit is sweet enough.
I canned 12 quarts of spiced peaches.
I could make preserves if I can gather up enough. They go fast just eating out of hand.
When I was a little boy (ages 4-6), we lived in a little house in Santa Paula, CA. In the back yard was a peach tree that in the middle of summer yielded sweet, juicy peaches as big as my fist.
It was idyllic.
We also had a peach tree at our house in Torrance, where we moved in 1964. A fresh-off-the-branch moment of bliss never turned up, but one summer, my parents went off for a week and left my grandmother watching us. She had us harvest several pounds of peaches, then proceeded to make a big ol’ kettle of peach jam, just as if it was a normal thing for people to do.
I’m also in western Oregon, and have peaches out the wazoo.
Unfortunately my wife and my two teenage boys do not like peaches (which is something I cannot fathom), so I rarely get them. Although I will get some this week. Simply eating one straight from the tree is one of life’s most amazing pleasures.
I’ve never learned how to can, and each September I promise to do so… and I never do.
I wash, peel, destone and slice peaches and add sugar , wait an hour. Bag em in freezer bags and press out all the air. And freeze.
Easier than canning.
They won’t have the consistency of fresh peaches.
But any peach is good in Dec. or Jan.
Favorite variety being the wild plums one could find along country roads in the Black Hills. Store-bought don’t come close.
Another favorite from the Hills is chokecherries, especially made into chokecherry syrup. I would love to have a wild plum tree and a chokecherry bush growing in my yard. While I’m at it, I’d love a large spread of rhubarb and a pin cherry tree, too… A man can dream.
I don’t think any of that would grow in my yard now…
Perhaps because they were forced to eat peaches as often as possible?
I spent summers at my Grandmother’s place up north (not that far north, about 60 miles north of Toronto, where I grew up.) Grandmother, having endured the Depression, was all about fresh produce, which was so much nicer than the home-canned stuff she had to eat during the Depression. So she considered fresh-grown peaches a treat–and in season, she served them for dessert at every lunch and dinner. I ate far more peaches than anybody should ever eat in a lifetime. When I complained, I was reminded that, “We didn’t have fresh peaches during the Depression, so you should consider yourself lucky to have them now.” So, while peaches were nice at first, I eventually ended up hating peaches. Peaches two meals a week daily for six-to-eight weeks? No, thanks. As a result, I hate peaches now.
There were a few other foods that Grandmother served as often as possible “because it’s fresh, and we didn’t get it during the Depression”–corn-on-the-cob comes to mind–and I grew to hate them all because we had to eat so much of them in season “because they’re fresh.”
Lancia, could this been what happened to turn your wife off peaches (and by extent, your boys)?
I doubt it. I asked her once and she said she just doesn’t like them. She grew up pretty poor and they didn’t have much fresh fruit, so my guess has always been that she just never was exposed to them much – not that peaches are an acquired taste as far as I can tell.
Guess that just leaves more for me. I just looked on my local produce stand’s Facebook page. 20# box of peaches for $10. Gonna take Beck’s suggestion and freeze them.
The farm market near us has a small peach and nectarine orchard. For weeks I’ve been serving grilled peaches with most meals. I slice a peach or two in half, remove the pit, the grill flesh side down for a bit, turn over to char the skin and put a drizzle of honey in the depression.
You and Chefguy, it’s just not faaaaiiiiirrrrr​:pleading_face: