Well Aint That Peachy

Have you ever seen that fruit and vegetable stand, Harward Farms on University Parkway? Well every year my family loves to get apples, peaches and corn on the cobb when they are in season.

This little beaut here is a half-bushel of "seconds". This means that they are discounted because they may have a bruise or a bump here or there, or are a little smaller, but are pretty much exactly the same as the others. The best part is, this half bushel was only $7 as compared to the regular priced half bushels which are $17! Wowzers!

So, if you can't tell, this is a LOT of peaches. My fam bought me this box and took a few for the road when they left, but Jer and I are only 2 people and knew we couldn't eat all of these before they went bad. So I decided to have some summer peach fun on a budget.

Project numero uno:
Bottling

I've never bottled peaches before and I only had one big bottle. Since I'm cheap and wasn't about to spend ten bucks on a huge case of bottles as a first timer I just decided to try one.

I found the EASIEST bottling instructions here. Seriously, no blanching, no syrup making. Try it.

Project numero dos:
Pie

Seriously people, I stink at making pies. I have never made one that I am happy with. So I may just end up forever being a bakery-bought pie person for special occasions only!

I only had one pie crust in freezer so I combined two recipes. I added the streusel topping and it was really yummy because it had almonds in it.

The pie ended up being really soupy but tasted yummy in a bowl with ice cream.

I bottled the leftover pie filling.

Project numero tres:
Jam

I decided to make peach-pineapple freezer jam. Peach jam is a little too sweet for me, I like the tart flavor the pineapple adds. Here is the recipe. My mom swears by MCP pectin and their freezer jam recipes. I grew up on homemade strawberry freezer jam made only with the best: MCP! It is setting now so that is a good sign. The single recipe actually made 6 jars. I'm so excited to try it!

And guess what?

I still have 25 peaches! Oh dear. I'm out of bottles, out of jars and ALMOST out of ideas. I think I'll freeze some for smoothies next.

In other news:

Here are two more maxis I made for my sisters! If you look closely, Katie's (zebra) is a mismatched pattern so the print goes different ways at an angle. It looks super cute on her and I love the fabric Anna chose for hers. Loved having some sissy time this week.

My students competing in BYU summer Dancesport this past weekend and Anna and her cute friend Devin joined me to cheer them on. They did an awesome job and I am so proud of them! It was fun to teach a summer course and I'm excited to get started with my fall class.