What can YOU do with Peaches?

Thanks to one of my readers, Happy Grandma from The Happiest Family on the Block , I researched her suggestions for peach butter and peach freezer jam.  The peach butter requires canning, which I am capable of, but hate doing.  The peach freezer jam is much easier!  If anyone has a better recipe for either, please let me know!

Recipe-Peach Butter

• 18-Ripe Peaches/4 lbs. (a little on the soft side is o.k.)
• 1/2 Cup-Water
• 4-Cups Sugar
• 1-Cinnamon Stick
• 1/8 tsp-Nutmeg

• Peel, halve, and seed peaches -You can do this by hand or by blanching in boiling hot water for a few minutes,  transferring to an ice-water bath. Then peel. This makes the skins very easy to remove without losing any pulp.
• Place in sauce pan over medium/low heat-At this point, use a potato masher to crush the peaches while cooking

Once the liquid pools have evaporated you can continue with the next step, or transfer pulp to a food mill or processor for further mashing. (we prefer the food mill)
Once to desired pulpiness, bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.

• Slowly stir in sugar
• Add cinnamon stick and nutmeg
• Let simmer over rolling boil at medium/low heat and stir by scraping the bottom very frequently to prevent scorching. This should take about 30 minutes or so. This is a great time to get your water bath canner and jars ready!
• Check for readiness by dipping spoon into mixture to check its slump.
• Ladle into 1/2 pint or pint jars, and process in a hot water bath for 10-15 minutes.
•  

from  http://www.scissorsanddrumsticks.com/2011/07/simple-delicious-peach-butter/

Easy Peach Freezer Jam

Ingredients:

• 4 cups peeled, crushed fresh peaches
• 1/4 cup fresh strained lemon juice
• 1 package (1 3/4 ounces) powdered fruit pectin
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 5 1/2 cups sugar

Preparation:

Measure peaches into a large kettle; add lemon juice. While stirring with a wooden spoon, slowly add the pectin. Let stand 20 minutes; stir every 5 minutes to blend pectin with fruit. Add syrup and blend well; add sugar and blend well. Cook over low heat to about 100°, just warm to the touch. Do not allow mixture to become hot. Pour jam into jars to within 1/2-inch of top. Cover jars at once. Let stand until jelly consistency. Store in freezer until ready to use. Store in refrigerator once jar has been opened.
Makes about 8 half-pint jars.
from: http://southernfood.about.com/od/jamsjellies/r/bl80711a.htm

One more fun (not edible) thing you can do with peaches:
Make a Peach Pit Monster!






Materials you need:

• Peach pits, clean and dry
• Paint and paint brush
• Googly eyes in different sizes
• Glue
• Playdough

If you don’t have googly eyes on hand, your child can draw eyes on paper or cardboard and cut them out to glue on their monster instead.

How to make peach pit monsters:

1. Paint the peach pits. Add glitter if you’d like and let dry.
2. Glue on eyes and let dry.
3. Make feet by creating balls out of play dough and pressing the pit into the dough. Let dough dry over night to harden.

That’s it! Your child can glue on other accessories or have fun painting your monsters different colors.
I’d love to hear about the fun you make with peach pits!


From: http://www.projectsforpreschoolers.com/make-peach-pit-monsters/