Preserving fruits and vegetables has come a long way since the days of our Grandmas and the giant canning pots and boiling bottles, lids and rings - which eventually led to scary things in cloudy bottles in dusty basements! - No wonder most of us would rather die than do that to ourselves (am I the only one?)
With science and tools and just a little bit of time, preserving the peak of summer bounty can be really simple - and delicious all year.
I don't "can" things in bottles, I know lots of people who do, and they swear it is easy and not scary and super safe, but I choose not to - I don't have the supplies and it really does seem like a lot of work - Especially when canned peaches aren't that expensive and are really really good. NOT fresh peach good, but good enough for my purposes.
I think these frozen peaches are perfect for all the uses that I need them for - Smoothies, toppings for yogurt, and baking. I don't eat them straight once I have frozen them, my kids do - so you most certainly can (they won't have the same texture as a fresh peach - but you weren't expecting that.
Let's get started -
You'll need peaches
Freezer bags (I used snack size so I can make smoothie serving sizes and then I put them into a big freezer bag)
a bowl of water with a couple of heavy squeezes of lemon juice
Directions:
Wash your peaches really well, scrub all the fuzz off of them by rubbing them well under the running water. (you can either leave the skin on or peel it off - I peel mine, and I just do it with a knife because all that blanching seems like a hassle to me)
Fill up a big bowl with cold water and your lemon juice.
As you Peel and Cut your peaches, put them into the water - this is the critical step to keep them from turning brown.
Some people will now put them on a cookie sheet and freeze each peach slice individually and then put them in the bags. If you have time / energy for that, go ahead - your peaches will look gorgeous.
But I just put mine in the bag - for the things I use them for - letting the bag thaw on the counter for 5 minutes separates the peaches just fine for me.
I also don't add any sugar or simple syrup to mine - I really feel strongly like that defeats the whole purpose of doing it yourself. I am not going to give any of us a lecture on how much sugar we think we need, but Peaches at the peach of the freshness and flavor don't need any added to be perfect.
Keep in mind just a few more things - Air is the enemy, squeeze as much air out of the bags as you can before you seal them up.
Use High Quality freezer bags, they are worth it.
See you in November you delicious bit of summer sunshine!
