That's What Mennonites Do!

Have you been eyeing those big boxes of peaches at the farmer’s market or grocery story and wishing you could take them all home with you? I suppose you ‘just know’ that too many of them will spoil before they are used up, but oh they would taste so good in so many different ways! Go ahead buy them!  You can enjoy sweet, juicy peaches just as much on a snowy wintery day as you would now; maybe more so, because it is such a treat then.

Okay, let’s pretend you have that box of peaches beside you. Now haul out your big Dutch oven pot and fill it half full with water. While it’s coming to a full, rapid boil, check to see which ones are soft. Put these, about six to eight at a time, into your biggest silver bowl or something similar, and carry them over to the stove. Lower them gently into the water and wait—no more than forty seconds (!) then grab a slotted spoon and place them back into the silver bowl. Hopefully by then you will have a sink half full of icy cold water, although I forgot to remind you to. You’ll need to plunge the peaches into the cold water, and as soon as they are manageable, slip off the skins! You can start by pricking with a knife, but the peeling comes off super easy if the peaches aren’t under ripe or over cooked.

They’re looking yummier every minute, aren’t they? Now cradle a peach in the palm of your hand and cut it into seven even slices, beginning and ending at the crevice if desired. Turn it on its side and  carefully circle your knife around the peach  cutting deep enough to hit the stone in three or four different places. Now remove the cubes from the peach into a large bowl. Is that is clear as peach juice  to you? You’ll get the hang of it, even if my instructions leave something to be desired. Keep on this whole process until you have about ten cups of cubed peaches.  Got it? Now pour two cups of gleaming, sparkly sugar into the bowl and mush around with your hands. (I know if I was doing it only for myself I at least ought to try and use a sugar substitute like Splenda.))

New paragraph: You gotta dig out one of your one kg sized yogurt containers now, and careen around the bottom with a knife until it pops right off. Now do be careful, folks! Squeeze this container into a sandwich size ziplock bag and carefully pour in two cups of sweetened peaches.  Remove the container  and squeeze the air out of the bag while laying it on its side, then place it on a cookie sheet. Continue until you have a pan full of recumbering  peach bags. Pop them into the freezer, and continue merrily for as long as you have peaches to freeze. After the bags are frozen solid, I like to restack them into a larger container of some sorts to keep the deep freeze more organized.

Have fun and let you know what you made with them on that cold, snowy January day! (lol)
P.S. I bet there's visions of peach milkshakes and cobblers dancing in your head right about now, right?

P.S. 2.This is really good for a quick treat. One package thawed peaches, (I used fresh!) one kg of either strawberry or vanilla yogurt. Mix together. ENJOY!!