Gone Pickin': Part Two

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Beautiful, juicy, golden peaches. SEVENTY rotting pounds of them.

Well, they weren't rotting. But they were certainly ripening--and fast! And I had to do something.

You may be wondering how I ended up with seventy pounds of peaches. (Or you might not be. In that case, just skip down to the pictures). We recently went peach picking near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. I had roughly calculated how many pounds of peaches we would need for the 24 jars we bought (my neighbor wanted 12 as gifts for friends). I estimated about 20 lbs and asked one of the farm workers just what that looked like. He pointed to two plastic bins and told us just to fill those and we should be set. What I missed was his wild-eyed sly snicker as he walked away.

We filled those bins. Not even to the top. And when we brought them back to weigh and pay, we had 20 pounds. And then another 20. And another 20. And then ten more.

We paid for $60 worth of peaches. Plus $15 worth of blackberries (and a few potatoes). And we carted our peachy glut home and into my kitchen. There they sat, staring at me. There is strength in numbers, you know.

So I did what any mother on house arrest (having a toddler and newborn and very busy husband may occasionally feel like such a sentence) would do: I started washing and eating and blanching and peeling and pitting and slicing and chopping and freezing and  boiling and canning and pureeing and dehydrating and processing peaches until only four remained. And those four still sit in our refrigerator because I do not want to taste anything that resembles peaches for a good little while.

Unfortunately, this is only about half of it. 20 more jars can be found in my freezer and around the community.

But I learned a TON in the process (haha, canning pun...okay, wow...I think I need an intervention). I would love to share a few recipes or ideas with anyone who might have a few hundred peaches laying around. Or even just six or seven! There are a million recipes out there on the internet, so instead of focusing on the recipe, I just want to encourage you to give preserving a try. Take whatever fruit your family loves (strawberries, peaches, berries, pears) and make it into something even more lovely!

The Easiest Way to Store Summer in a Jar

What you need:
INSTANT PECTIN (this is the deal maker...you can find it at Target or Walmart or Amazon.com, but most grocery stores do not carry it.)
FRUIT
SUGAR (you can also use Splenda if you are anti-sugar but don't want to spend the extra 10 minutes making the honey or juice sweetened variety described below)
STORAGE (freezer safe containers if you want to store bigger batches for up to a year, or just a pyrex or tupperware if you are making a little for this week's PB&Js. You can buy special plastic "jars" or freezer-safe glass jars at Walmart, Target and sometimes at Lowes.)

Instructions are printed in side the Pectin label and also on this website, but to give you an idea of how incredibly easy it is, here is the basic method:

~Mash the fruit you have--a little or a lot. Or stick it in a blender and blend. But I like it mashed for the texture a little better. Mash it good.
~Add some sugar to the fruit and let sit 10 minutes. The ratio is a little less than 1 part sugar to 2 parts fruit, but I have had success with 1 part sugar to every 4 parts fruit, but I would not use less. It just depends on taste from there.
~You might need a little lemon juice if you are working with fruit that browns like apples or pears or peaches. Add this when you add the sugar.
~Stir in the prescribed amount of pectin and continue to stir for three minutes.
~Pour into storage container and let sit on counter for 30 minutes. Then freeze for up to a year or refrigerate for up to three weeks.

DONE! Seriously, that's it! Mash, sugar, rest, pectin, stir. DONE!

A few things: It can take up to 24 hrs (sometimes more) for the jam to gel. But usually it is gelled by morning. And taste the jam when adding the sugar to see how sweet it needs to be. OH! And don't be afraid to try something fun like this...

Variations:
~Cinnamon is great with just about everything!
~Extracts can bring out some great flavors. I love almond with the peach!
~Small amounts of alcohol (too much will likely interact with the pectin, but I suppose if you put enough in you wouldn't notice anyway) can be a great compliment. Think bourbon or rum with peaches and berries...YUM!
~Herbs! Mint or basil would be fantastic! Just put them in whole if you want to be able to pick them out later, or chop them up for more flavor. Danny would recommend grinding them with mortar and pestle. But then you are getting fancy. And if you are going to get fancy, you might as well try something only slightly more involved like this...

Peach Jam, Straight Up

This is for those of you who prefer something naturally sweetened or want a fruit-only jam for those sugar-crazed tyrants we call children. Also super-easy. Takes about 15 minutes.

What you need:
LOW OR NO SUGAR NEEDED PECTIN
FRUIT
HONEY OR JUICE OR BOTH OR JUST WATER!
STORAGE (same as above unless you want to learn to can)

~Mash fruit and place in pot on stove.
~Add water or juice.
~Add pectin and bring to a boil that cannot be stirred down.
~Add honey if desired.
~Keep at full rolling boil for exactly one minute.
~Skim foam off top (if there is any) and pour into storage container. Let sit on counter for 30 minutes. Then freeze for up to a year or refrigerate for up to three weeks.

See? That wasn't so bad either!


Just a few things to remember: If you are pouring into glass jars, you might want to warm your jars before pouring to avoid shattering your glass. You could throw them in the dishwasher and turn on the heated dry or place them in a pot of warm water. It won't hurt your jam if there is a little water inside still. Put the lid on for 30 minute rest on the counter. Taste your jam (blow on it because it will be boiling!) as you add the sweetener. Have fun with juice and fruit combos, too!

Fruit Leather (or Brittle in my case)

Lest you think everything I touch turns to gold, let me share one more method with you that is still a work in progress. Dehydrating without a dehydrator.

The basics:
~PUREE your fruit with skins on. You will also want to simmer the fruit for a while. I prefer to puree it in a blender or food processor and then cook it down the rest of the way, but you do what you want. I just like to avoid chopping as much as possible.
~Pour onto foil or heavy-duty plastic wrap (I prefer foil--don't love the idea of plastic degrading in the oven and leaching into my food, though I do eat my occasional Lean Cuisine) lining a SMALLER THAN PICTURED cookie sheet. It should be about 1/4 in thick. Use a toothpick to see how thick it is (poke in at a couple different places and compare to a ruler or just eyeball it). Shimmy cookie sheet back and forth to make it even.
~Place in oven at the LOWEST SETTING POSSIBLE! This is where it got tough.
~Heat for hours and hours and hours until no longer sticky.

"Dehydrating" my fruit leather and peaches.

My batches were too big so the outside cooked faster than the inside could. My oven goes down to 170, but you have to keep the door open a bit to let the steam out (hence, the dehydrating process) because I do not have a convection setting. That can make a summer kitchen HOT! So when you spend 8-10 hours baking your entire kitchen only to have an exterior of fruit brittle and a bit of goo in the middle it can be frustrating. It can be even more frustrating when you return said goo to the oven for a little more dehydration and leave it in only a little too long and end up with carbon peaches. Not the variation I was looking for.

Danny said it was still good but we all know it was because he wanted me to brush my teeth and go to bed. Still, he's a sweetheart.

So, all that to say, cook small batches slow, keep your oven low and let your convection blow. (Like how I did that?) We did get a few good pieces. Nathan thinks it is candy and that is good enough for me!

And the peach slices turned out well. Let me know if you want that method.

If anyone wants a recipe or even just encouragement to try one of the other things I did with all those peaches, let me know! There are a lot of crazy recipes and tutorials out there, but I would be glad to give pointers or boil it down (another canning pun...this has got to stop) if it would help!