Goodbye Sweet Peach

Ah, the voluptuous peach, its fuzzy skin so soft and inviting to the touch. Not bright and brassy like the apple, the peach has a warmth to it, a sensuality. Its shape is alluring: a round swell ringed by a delicate crease with a single dimple for the stem at the top. The crease suggests where to run a knife to slice the peach into perfectly mirrored halves of gold, blushing red where where the pit is touched. Each bite is a melting gush, the flesh so full of juice and sweet. A delightful mess to eat, peaches leave me with wet fingers and a sticky dribble on my chin.

This summer has been a glorious stream of peaches, both the warm yellow-orange and the super sweet white. Local peaches first appear in July in Maryland and linger through September. By now most peaches I find are getting a little funny; bruised, overripe and tending to be mealy. The only thing they're good for is some kind of cooking, though I still haven't mastered a good peach pie, cobbler or crumble. Most recipes I come across are tacked on as a variation of an apple recipe which just doesn't seem right to me. The peach has such a mild sweet flavor compared to the tartness of apple and they shouldn't be treated the same. I have high hopes for a peach, brown sugar and ginger combination but nothing concrete yet.

The past couple of months I've been neglecting the garden, mainly because bending over became more difficult the longer I was pregnant. Now I've got a baby boy keeping me busy but we are beginning to go out to clear summer's weeds. The farmers markets have been my source for the garden fresh stuff this season. There is one by my house that had white peaches for awhile in July. What a treat! I've averaged eating at least a peach a day since July and the best thing I made was peach ice cream from a suggestion in Fannie Farmer.

Peach Ice Cream

2 cups sliced fresh peaches
1/2 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice

Mix together and chill for 1 hour. Combine with 1 chilled batch of your favorite vanilla ice cream base (I use the basic one from the ice cream maker book - milk, cream, sugar & vanilla). Pour in ice cream maker per usual instructions.

As a side note, I've had this across the range hood in my kitchen for years, patched together with a magnetic poetry set.

I want to eat

a mean peach

lick honey drool juice

from the cool pink rock

vision of summer sun

must crush.