Peachy Keen

Friday we went peach picking at Love Apple Farm in Ghent. This was our second year in a row there. I really like that place! The peaches work out to be about $1/lb. We only got 21.5 lbs this year, so none for canning. But we did have enough to make 2 pies for a picnic, and I have the makings of 3 more in the freezer, and of course, a few left to just eat.

We had a lot better luck with the blanching and peeling process this year. Last year, we finally gave up and left the peels on everything (not that I really mind them). This year we were successful, even though the peaches did get a little cooked around the edges during the process. That doesn't matter, right? We're going to bake them anyway. (for whatever reason, my camera would not focus on anything throughout this whole process. eh, whatever.)

The filling recipe is an old and simple one from a Betty Crocker cookbook. The crust recipe was a new one from America's Test Kitchen (secret ingredient...Vodka!) They both turned out fabulous. This was definitely my best crust.

That crust has a half cup of vegetable shortening and 1 1/2 sticks of butter in it. Healthy, it's not. Yummy? oh yeah!

A little egg wash and sprinkling of sugar, and voila! It even set up really nicely!

Beginnings

Growing up in a small town in the midwest was a blessing and a curse. On the good side, it was a farm community. I knew how to fish, but usually had my fish in "stick" form, enjoyed fresh produce, but ate mostly canned, had opportunities to play in the woods, but wasn't allowed to ride my bike past our street, understood the merits of making things yourself, but was also taught that if Walmart doesn't have it, we don't need it. I experienced many of those home-spun stories of small town life, but over the years my parents succumbed to the lure of convenience like many Americans seem to (although this does seem quite a bit more prevalent in the midwest), and a lot of the better qualities of my childhood were slowly replaced by anything deemed "convenient". Somewhere along the way, things shifted from pie-baking lessons from my grandma, to me calling her in my early twenties with a question about cream of tartar, only to have her suggest I just use instant pudding instead.

The past few years I've been working with the idea of simple living, and an active, creative lifestyle, and trying to reconcile the two halves of me into one fulfilled whole.