It’s peach season here!  We actually have a farm that we can go to pick our own fresh peaches right from the tree.  This is incredible for us, since we didn’t always have that luxury.

The last time I actually had a lot of fresh peaches was years ago when someone shipped me a box as a gift.  That was some special surprise!  Not only were they a tasty treat, but the aroma when we opened that box was out-of-this-world.  After eating a couple right out of the box, we got to work trying to figure out what to do with them.  We didn’t want the pleasure of those peaches to be over too quickly, so we found a couple really great ways to freeze some of them.  Both these methods are so simple that it almost seems wrong.

Here’s how we did one batch.  Wash the peaches well, cut in half, removing the pit, then slice into wedges.  Lay the wedges in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer until the peaches are frozen solid.  Remove the frozen peach slices from cookie sheet and slip the slices into freezer bag and place bag in freezer immediately.  Because they’re frozen individually you can use whatever amount you want out of the freezer bag, even taking out just one or two wedges to put on top of a bowl of ice cream. They’ll thaw in a minute or two and be ready for you.

One other great way that we froze some of our peaches was in glass canning jars.  We just slipped some of the clean wedges into wide-mouth jars, screwed on the lids, and set them in the freezer.  The canning jars ensured that they would not become freezer-burned if we left them in there longer than anticipated.  It was a real treat to find a jar of those frozen peaches hiding in the freezer a year after we received that box of fresh peaches.  We thawed them out and they were as good as the first day.

Now, we did not add sugar to our peaches so that they would be “recipe ready” for pies and cobblers.  If you’re thawing a couple wedges just for a treat, you can sprinkle the peaches with sugar once they thaw.

Anyone have a good peach pie, cobbler, or crisp recipe to share?  Are there other uses for peaches besides dessert?  I’d love to hear from you!