Life's a peach and then you eat one

Wow. Has it really been that long? There I was, celebrating New Years and I could’ve sworn all I did was blink and it was St. Patrick’s day. I blinked again and it was summer. Now summer’s gone. I’ve got to quit blinking.

I know it’s nearing the end of summer, not because the days are getting longer or because I can actually go to the mall without being overrun by hoards of pre-pubescent (and some post-pubescent who act like pre-pubescent) kids escaping from their upcoming scholastic duties (Huckleberry Hound where are you!!??). Rather, I can tell summer’s drawing to a close because of the harvest. No more strawberries. No more watermelons. No more corn. No more peaches.

We have four trees in our back yard next to our so-called garden; two apple, one pear and an octogenarian peach on it’s deathbed. The pear and apples trees are overburdened but doing fine. They are so full of fruit, their branches are touching the ground. I need to do some serious pruning in the Spring. Those trees I’m not worried about. The fruit won’t be ready until just after the first cold snap to seal in the sugar. By then I’ll have lost at least half to deer, birds and worms. No biggie. There’s enough for all. What’s left or falls on the ground, I throw on my compost heap for next year’s garden.

It’s the peach tree I’m worried about. It’s been sick and dying since I moved in about eight years ago. About three or four years ago we pruned off all the dead branches, leaving just one still alive and producing leaves, but no buds. It looked like a natural born flagpole. My mom intended to have it cut down completely if it didn’t produce fruit. Low and behold, the next spring brought us about ten small, barely edible peaches, resulting in a stay of execution from the Governess.

Each Spring she threatens to call someone to have it cut down and each spring I convince her that as long as one branch still produces fruit, there’s no reason to cut it down. The last few Springs the tree has come through, producing more and larger fruit than the previous Spring. An arboreal mid-life crisis maybe? This year it produced probably as many as three dozen or so peaches. Even my mom was impressed. Unfortunately, we lost all of them. All appeals exhausted, not even the Governess can help the tree now. It is to be replaced next Spring by a younger, healthy tree, provided I don’t inadvertently kill it with my brown thumb.

I do love peaches. Fresh. Canned. Freshly canned. Georgia peaces, California peaches, Arizona peaches, James and the Giant Peach. I once ate a Georgia peach that was so big I felt like James. It was huge! And was it ripe! I’m talking dripping-down-your-chin-sticky-hands juicy!

One project I’ve been working on lately is recipes for kids. In the last decade, thanks to authors like J.K. Rowling and Lemony Snicket, there’s been a renaissance of children’s books. A lot of them have included food. In the Harry Potter series alone there has to be at least 150 different dishes with about 90% being real British cuisine.

So I researched about 40 or so different kids books to see foods. I read everything from Eragon and The City of Ember to Chronicles of Narnia and Wind in the Willows. James was on the list too. All that was mentioned was the fizzy lemonade the wicked aunts drank. But did that stop me? NO! Like I said, I love peaches! There’s so many things you can do with peaches! There’s peach ice cream, peaches and cream, peach punch, peach fritters, peach tarts, peach pasties, peach lassi, peach Jell-o, peach jam, pickled peaches, and let’s not forget my great-grandmother’s famous peach brandy. So, all month, I’ll give you a peach recipe. It will be my version of the “Julie/Julia Project”. And here’s the first one -

PEACHES AND CREAM

1 lb fresh peaches
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
granola

De-pit the peaches and slice into wedges. You can peel them first, or leave the skin on. Your choice. Combine the rest of the ingredients except the granola. Divide the sliced peaches evenly among four bowls. Top with cream and sprinkle with granola.

And don’t worry…pumpkins are just around the corner!