Easy Peasy Peaches

We are blessed with incredible fresh fruit here in SW Michigan. We live in what is called “the fruit belt” describing a strip of land moderated by the water of beautiful Lake Michigan. There are many farms here with fruit orchards that grow delicious cherries, apple and peaches. Right now we are in peach season and enjoying their sweet and lucious flavor.

The color, the smell, the texture….manna from heaven!

They are so fresh and require just a little bit of time to pick there is no reason not to. This year ours were just 75 cents a pound U-pick. Most years we pick them by the half bushel and this year we picked three half bushels.

We pick, wash, blanch them in boiling water to remove the skin, peel, cut up, add sugar and freeze the cut up fruit in Ziplock bags in our freezer. (4 cups of peaches to 1 cup of sugar and 1 Tsp. of lemon juice.) We freeze our fruit because without a basement we have no place to store canned fruit without them freezing.

Can’t you just imagine reaching up to pick this lovely peach?

We try to “buy local” whenever we can. This helps the local growers and farmers stay in business and saves on fossil fuels as food does not have to be shipped half way across the US.

We usually pick Red Havens or Glo Havens, a variety of peach that was developed in nearby South Haven, MI., by a historic grower by the name of Liberty Hyde Baily. There is a museum nearby that is devoted to his genius.

Red Haven and Glo Haven peaches are our favorites!

While they are fresh I will make whole wheat pancakes with peach on top of them, peach breads and I’ll make up bowls of fresh black raspberries and peaches and eat them by the bowl full. Fresh picked fruit…yum!

Come January or February eating those peaches while snow is falling is like manna from heaven.

One of our favorite ways of eating peaches is on top of whole wheat pancakes.

Whole Wheat Pancakes:

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup milk (I personally use almond milk)
2. 1 Tbsp. vinegar* (white wine or apple cider is preferred)
3. 1 cup whole wheat flour (organic)
4. 2 tsp. sugar (white sugar)
5. 1/2 tsp. baking powder
6. 1/4 tsp. baking soda
7. 1/4 tsp. salt
8. 1 egg (I use organic)
9. 2 Tbsp. melted butter
10. butter for greasing the griddle (I use olive oil)

Directions:

1. Combine the milk and vinegar and let the mixture curdle while you mix together the other ingredients.
2. In a big bowl, whisk to combine the whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter,and the curdled milk, until it looks fairly homogenous and smooth. Whisk this wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir the two together until just barely mixed. You want any visible loose flour to be stirred in, but there should still be plenty of lumps. If you stir out the lumps, the pancakes will likely be tough.
4. Preheat a nonstick griddle to 375 degrees F and grease the surface with butter. Add small scoops of pancake batter and use the cookie scooper to gently smooth the scoop into a flatter circle. Cook for a few minutes, until you start to see little bubbles forming on the surface. Flip the pancakes with a turner and cook for a few minutes on the other side, until you peek underneath and see that the bottom is golden brown.

The original recipe as developed by www.fifteenspatulas who receives all credit for its original recipe.

We enjoy these pancakes for dinner as well as breakfast.

Easy Peach Bread!

Ingredients:

3 eggs 2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup vegetable oil 2 cups diced canned peaches, drained 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).   Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, beat the eggs lightly.  Blend in the sugar, oil, and vanilla.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix just to combine. Stir in the peaches and nuts.  Pour batter into prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.Hope you enjoy these easy peasy peach recipes!Small House / Big Sky Donna