Peaches Galore!

The Pies

Last weekend while at the grocery store, I picked up a large box of peaches, since I thought that canning some peaches would be a great idea! I figured I could get a few pies out of the box, and then can the rest! That was on Friday.

This past Wednesday, I was beginning to worry about the peaches going bad, since I hadn't gotten around to actually doing anything with the peaches, so when I had the afternoon off work yesterday (Thursday), I decided I had better get to work!

I started out with the pies, and spent the next hour peeling, pitting and slicing peaches.



After slicing the peaches (6C per pie), I combined them in a bowl with 3/4C sugar, 2Tbsp quick-cooking tapioca, and 1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg and let them combine for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.



What I failed to mention earlier is that I've begun making my own crusts as well, starting with the boxed mix (for pie #1) and moving onto a TRUE homemade crust (for pie #2). And not only have I gotten pretty decent at making my own crusts, I've also learned the ways of the lattice crust!



I started by putting my pie guard over the top of the finished pie and sticking it in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, I took off the pie guard and continued baking for another 25 minutes.

But in the meanwhile....I started work on the pecan glaze to top the first pie. (I ran out of pecans for a glaze on the second pie) This included 3/4 C chopped pecans mixed into a caramelized 2 Tbsp butter and 1/4 C brown sugar in a saucepan, then spread on top of a hot peach pie, and back in the oven for 5 additional minutes.

The finished pie products:



I cannot WAIT to sink my teeth into a piece tonight! :)

The Canning!

After cleaning up a bit from the messy, messy pie preparation, I moved on to canning! I started by filling up 3 large pots of water - 1 to boil, 1 to cool, and 1 with a water/vinegar/salt mixture to dip the peaches in to prevent discoloration.

After the 1st large pot began boiling, I started placing the whole peaches into the pot for 1 minute (which sometimes was a bit longer) to loosen the skins. I then moved the peaches to the cold water and removed the skins. Then, I cut them in half, pitted them, and dipped them in the water/vinegar/salt mixture before putting them in a bowl, awaiting the next step! I did this for the remaining peaches - approximately 25 peaches!

After I finished the first step with all the peaches, I began dicing them boiling them in a saucepan with a 4C peaches to 1/2C sugar ratio. I boiled them for a minute or so before filling the jars with them and placing the lids securely on top.

I then placed the jars into a large stockpot filled with boiling water and boiled them for 20 minutes.



After the 20 minutes was up, I removed the jars from the stockpot and placed them on the counter to cool!

My first experience canning was a good one, but whoa doggies were my feet tired from all the standing! Can't wait to try out my canned peaches this fall and winter :) YUM!!!