A Peach of a day!

Let me begin by saying that my mom was raised on a peach orchard, so canning peaches in Septembner was a way of life for us. We knew all the ins and outs of canning peaches and felt a little bit of pride when we saw the finished product glistening in the sunshine. So it was with some regret and sadness that I realized that my 16 year old daughter, Celeste, had never canned peaches. She didn't even know that hot water took off the skins for heaven's sake!!
So I was thrilled when I came across a deal on peaches! By sheer luck, I found a couple who own their own orchard and did the last season's picking the morning that we got the peaches! They were so ripe and juicy you would have thought that they had sugar on them. We ate as many as we could, and kept out 5 lbs to eat fresh, and then canned the rest. It almost brought tears to my eyes to have to can them, but I knew they wouldn't be fresh forever. Although I was a participant in the canning, Erin and Celeste were my main workers.

See their happy faces??

Actually it took us quite a few shots to get this a picture where they both looked this somber. It was pretty much a laugh-fest for awhile there. And after several hours, and 16 quarts of peaches later . . .

TA-DA!!

And the best part about this is, that in the dead of winter when everything is brown and dried up, we will open a bottle of this sweet fruit and smile when we remember the peach juice dripping from our elbows, and our achy backs and the sweat running down our necks. Um . . . OK, so maybe we won't smile, but hopefully we will have great memories of laughter and sticky elbows and sweaty necks! Oh ya - and also peaches!