Peach Butter

Well hello millions of peaches!  I traded in my zucchini the size of a wiener dog for two boxes of freshly grown peaches.  Again, these came straight from our friend Linda's garden.  I've never been to their home, but I imagine it to be a magical place where friendly birds turn into cartoon characters, singing you songs while feeding you berries.  I bet that's what it's like there.

Welcome to Peach Week.  

I decided to make peach butter first because it called for 4 pounds of peaches and I wanted to make a dent in my stash before I became overwhelmed.  I found this recipe and it's delightful.  Just the right amount of sweet with no added spices - simply peaches, lemon juice and sugar.  They call it "butter" because it's a cross between a jam and a sauce (and mine is much more like the latter).  I can't wait to pour it over ice cream, stir it into drinks, drizzle it over pancakes and smother it over toast and scones all, summer, long.  

Four pounds is roughly equivalent to 40 smaller-sized peaches, FYI.  That's a lot of peaches to peel, pit and chop.  However, the method of boiling them for 30 seconds and letting them cool in cold water before removing the skin worked beautifully...  

Simmering peaches...

I used my immersion blender to puree it until it reached a silky smooth, butter-like texture... 

Thickening "butter"...

Gifts!