When is Peach Season?
Did you know that August is National Peach Month? We are in the middle of prime peach season here in the Pacific Northwest. To take advantage of all the delicious fresh peaches, I will be sharing four of my favorite ways to use fresh peaches. I hope this will help you make the most of peach season and learn how to enjoy them all year
How To Wash Peaches
On my most recent grocery shopping trip, I bought three types of peaches: yellow, white, and doughnut peaches. I like having different types of peaches for variety based on what I want to do with them. When I am shopping, I prefer to use reusable bags for both my produce and my shopping. If you want to cut out plastics and get high-quality, organic bags for your produce, check them out in my shop.
No matter what I do with my peaches, I always wash them in vinegar. The vinegar wash contains 10 cups of water with ¼ cup of 5% distilled white vinegar. Put this in a large bowl and add the fruit to the vinegar wash for two minutes; set a timer. After the two minutes are up, the fresh peaches are clean and ready to use!
If washing produce is new to you, or you just want to wash all of your produce more effectively, the Zero Waste Produce Guide would be a great resource for you. It has instructions for washing and storing 75 of the most popular fruits and vegetables. You can learn more about my book in The Cross Legacy Shop.
How To Cut a Peach
I cut fresh peaches by cutting them in half around the pit and then twisting them apart. From that point, I will make the peach slices, whatever size I need depending on what I am doing with them.
How To Freeze Peaches
It is a lot easier to freeze peaches than people think! I take the peach slices I described above and put them in a bowl of water (approx. 4 cups) while cutting them. I add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to prevent them from browning when freezing. Allow them to sit in the water for five minutes. Then lay the peach slices flat on a baking sheet on a piece of parchment paper. This prevents them from sticking to each other. Keep all of the peach slices separate to prevent them from freezing into big chunks. Once the peach slices are frozen (about 4-6 hours), you can transfer them into a silicone bag or airtight glass container.
Having these peach slices in the freezer will allow you to enjoy them in smoothies even when you are months away from peach season.
How To Can Peaches
Canning peaches is another way to be able to make your fresh peaches last throughout the year! You can stock up on them during peach season, when they can be purchased at the lowest price.
For full directions on the types of peaches that I select for canning and canning directions, check out the linked blog post.
How To Make Peach Cobbler
Instead of making a classic peach cobbler, I actually prefer to make a peach crisp. Fruit desserts are some of my favorites, especially in the summer. You can make a crisp using any fruit that you have on hand. They are also more versatile since you can use fresh, frozen, or canned fruit.
Since I am diabetic, I use homemade monk fruit brown sugar as an alternative to traditional brown sugar. You can view my full Blueberry Peach Crisp recipe in this blog post.
Fresh Summer Salad Recipe
I used peaches in this Stone Fruit Salad. It is another way to incorporate this fruit into your summer meals. You can watch me make the salad in this video.
Making the Most of Peach Season
What types of peaches are you buying right now, and what are you planning to do with them? Are you going to freeze peaches or give canning a chance this year? Share in the comments how you plan to use your fresh peaches!
If you want to hear me share about peaches and see how I use them, check out my YouTube video here!
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