Gettin' Canny with Peaches

I love to live life true to my heritage.  I'm just a wee bit Scottish. Okay, I'm a lot Scottish.  Faithful to my progenitors, I look for ways to pinch a penny.  In a word, I'm "tight".  I come by it honestly, both my parents were the same way and it was my father who encouraged me to can.  Dad grew up on a farm in Tennessee during the Depression and he appreciated hard work and the fruit of that labor.  Even as a successful businessman he worked on his own car, built his garage and always had a wonderful garden. 

When my husband and I bought our home, it had a 2,000 square foot garden and 18 fruit trees.  Back then, when I brought home a plant, my husband would chortle, "Another one goes on Death Row!"  As a young wife and mother, I had no clue how to grow things; that had been my dad's department.  Now I had to step up to the plate and learn how to grow things to put on our plates!  So I contacted the local extension service and signed up for the Master Gardener program.  What an incredible experience!  The training one receives through the program is like a college education!  You learn everything from turf management and orchard management to insect control and so on.  That education has been invaluable and I had the opportunity to return the favor of that free education by volunteering with 4H, the University of Maryland Extension Service and the local county and state fairs.

Once I learned how to grow food, I had to do something with it. It became a matter of "put up" or, well..., I had to put it up.  So, I learned to can (and freeze, and dehydrate). With canning, I found I could prolong our bounty throughout the year for our family and preserve our budget to boot! You may be thinking that canning is just not for you because it is too difficult.  Trust me, I'm as blonde as they come and if I can do it, so can you.  Below is a very simple recipe that yields a delicious treat.

Canned Peaches

Things you'll need:

 

Peaches

Sugar

Water

4 - quart canning jars with lids and rings

Water bath canner with wire rack

Jar Tongs

Fruit Pectin or lemon juice

Step One:  Sterilize your jars and lids.  I run mine in the dishwasher and then submerge in hot water in my sink until ready to pack peaches.  At the same time, raise your wire canning rack to hang on the side of your canner and fill with water high enough that cover your jars with an inch of water over the top of the lids (once you lower them in your canner).  Turn heat on high - you'll need a rolling boil.

Step Two:  For 4 quarts of peaches, I picked about 20 peaches.  Ours are cling-free, which make it easy to slice up.  Peel and pit your peaches.  I slice mine because when I use my peaches later, it's usually to make a pie or cobbler.  Sprinkle your peaches with fruit pectin (ascorbic acid) or lemon juice to keep the fruit from turning brown.

Step Three: In a large saucepan add 4 cups water to 4 cups sugar.  Heat and stir to dissolve sugar and create a simple syrup.  This is to pour over the sliced peaches. 

Step Four:   Pack your peaches in your hot jars.  Don't pack too tightly.  Pour simple syrup over peaches to the bottom of the neck of each quart jar.  Run a butter knife around the inside of the jar.  This allows any air bubbles to rise.  If you need to add more syrup to bring the level back up to the bottom of the neck of the jar, do so now.  Put on your lids and rings until they are "finger tight", meaning tight enough, but you can loosen with your fingers (you don't need a vice grip, lol!) 

Step Five:  Once the water has reached a rolling boil, take your jars and place them evenly around the rack and lower in the canner. If you need more water to cover the jars, take a big pot and fill with the hottest tap water and add until the jars are sufficiently covered.  Put the lid on the canner.  Usually, your water will slow it's boil. With the lid on, the water will heat up again and once the boil rolls again, begin timing.  For peach quarts, I process for 30 minutes.

Step Six:  After 30 minutes, turn off the heat.  I wait until the water stops boiling and then remove my jars with my jar tongs.  Place your jars on a folded tea towel in a draft-free area.  Allow to cool to room temperature and then mark on the lid what you canned and the date.  You are done! Aye!

Now, what shall we do with those peaches?  One of my favorite recipes is my 

Aunt Mary's Poor Man's Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

5 slices white bread, crusts removed, cut each into 5 slices

1-1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg

Directions

1.  Preheat over to 350 degrees F.  Butter an 8 inch baking dish.

2.  Cut crust from bread slices and cut each slice of bread into 5 slices.     Spread fruit onto bottom of pan and cover with a layer of bread.

3.  Beat together butter, sugar, flour, and egg. Pour mixture onto fruit and bread.

4.  Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Thought for the day:  Ya cannae beat a canny Scot!  :-)