46 Pound of Peaches

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25 August 2010 1,145 views 13 Comments

What does 46 pounds of peaches look like?

Honestly, I had NO idea. I was going for more like 20 or 30 pounds. I had never been to an orchard to pick peaches before. I just knew that in apples, it was more like 2 apples=1 pound, right? Peaches, though, I’m clueless about.

I’m not a canner, aka: “food preservationist”. Is that a word? It should be, because I just rocked it in a sentence.

I get a little granola mama every once in a while, though. I’ve made strawberry freezer jam (with and without sugar . . . with sugar is MUCH better), and last year I canned some applesauce and “pear sauce” which was kinda a canning fail, except that the boys liked it. That was my first time . . . um . . . boiling jars. What do they call that? Hot water bath? Something like that.

Anywho! I met some gals from MOPS at the orchard on Monday morning and started picking away. Thankfully, Odessa (the gal who really knows what she is doing) showed us how to tell if the peaches are ripe. They are soft up near the stem. Ahhh! (Aren’t you glad you read this blog post now?) I picked a bunch of ripe peaches. A few boxes. Um, 46 pounds worth. And, since we went as a group and picked over 100 pounds (actually, over 200 pounds) they were only 60¢ a pound!

The night before, my wonderful mother-in-law loaned me her huge canner pot and some big jars (quarts?) and she GAVE me some new-in-the-box lids that had been hanging around in her cupboard.

Look!

I made a ton of jam. Then, I made some more little jars for Christmas presents!

I froze some peaches using my frozen ground beef method (and I also do this for my beans!). By the way, there are two freezer bags full. You can only see one.

And, I made a little country peach tart for the freezer (notice the homemade crust all rolled up and ready for the freezer!).

Guess what we had for dinner:

(Obviously, this is the “during” shot. I should have given you the “after” shot, huh? Much more appealing.)

Yes. I served dessert for dinner. And for dessert, we had quesadillas.

The boys love, love, love the peach jam. It is seriously to die for.

And, we still have about a dozen peaches left for munchin’.

I think I’m addicted to the canning. I can’t wait to hunt down some blackberries!! Perhaps I’ll make a little jam!

Linked to Tasty Tuesdays @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam! You gotta go check out the linkage on that blog carnival. Lots of ideas for cooking with fruit!

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13 Comments »

Jennifer L. said:

Yum! Good for you!

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# 25 August 2010 at 8:39 pm

Katey said:

Yummmmmmy

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# 25 August 2010 at 8:40 pm

Alison @ Hospitality Haven said:

I have 18 lbs. of peaches in my basement just waiting to be canned! Any good tips to share with me??

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Kelleigh Reply:
August 26th, 2010 at 7:11 am

YES! You know how you should blanch the peaches so you can remove the skin easily? Well, keep the peaches in the hot water for about 2 minutes (everything I read says 30 seconds) before putting them in cold water. The first batch I did took forever, and then I had to peel them with a knife. After I tried keeping them in hot a little longer, the skin just peeled off with my fingernails. SO fast and easy!

Oh, PLUS, I couldn’t ever get them to detach from the pit easily (even though they should have), so I just gave up and started hacking at it with the knife rather than expecting perfect slices. Still tastes the same!

AND, I wish I had known about hot packing. That is when your syrup is heated when you pour it in with the peaches. I didn’t know about that, so I think my peaches are going to turn out softer.

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# 25 August 2010 at 10:00 pm

Shana said:

Wow, that is a lot of peaches. All of it looks awesome. I’ve always wanted to make my own jams and do canning but I am so clueless on what to do lol

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Kelleigh Reply:
August 26th, 2010 at 8:27 am

Oh, go grab yourself a box of pectin (I found it for $1.50 @ Walmart + use the $1/1 Ball/Kerr any canning coupon from 8/6RP to get it for 50¢). The directions are on there. For peach jam, all you need is peaches (duh), pectin, lemon juice and 5 cups of sugar. Yes. FIVE cups! Just don’t think about it while you are pouring it in. SUPER yummy and ridiculously easy.

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# 25 August 2010 at 10:47 pm

Jeanne said:

You must have a mighty big freezer to house what you freeze, Kelleigh! Everything looks so yummy! You make me want to start canning! *Ü*

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Kelleigh Reply:
August 26th, 2010 at 7:13 am

It actually belongs to a friend who is between houses at the moment. She wasn’t using it, and it was taking up room in their rental, so I’m “storing” it for her. Of course, now we know that we NEED a freezer! I love it! It’s not that big, though! We definitely eat out of it!

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# 26 August 2010 at 4:48 am

Pam said:

I picked peaches a couple of weeks ago too . I came home with three huge boxes, which I have no idea how many pounds that is, but it was a lot. My *plan* was to can but I chickened out and made jam and froze the rest instead. Maybe next year? I need someone to do it with me I think…

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# 26 August 2010 at 9:21 am

Minerva said:

wow. How productive are you? No peaches to be found in Ireland but there’s about 4 pounds of damsons I want to do something with. One tenth of your crop and I’m overwhelmed as to when to pick and what to do with them! While we don’t have peaches their are loads of sloes this year – so I’m putting down sloe gin this year and then everyone can sloshed on “Makes you Sloe” liqueur next Christmas!

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Kelleigh Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:17 am

Okay, WHAT are damsons and sloes?? Ha, ha!

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# 2 September 2010 at 8:11 am