All Things Peaches

Peach Cobbler

Driving down to the lake yesterday I passed the peach stand. If I could have stopped to make a photo I would have. It's a shed right on the highway beside a long driveway that leads to the house of the peach farmer. Baskets and bags of peaches line the shelves. And it's all on the honor system. There's a bucket for you to drop your money in when you get your peaches. Daddy-O picked up a couple of bags for us last week while we had enough family here to help eat our favorite desserts.

We had quite a week with Little Lady and her family at the farm. It was her first time visiting since she started walking, so she was able to explore every inch of everywhere. We spent the rest of last week after they headed home undoing our temporary baby proofing. Every available surface held something that had been set up out of reach.

We had time for a couple of days to catch our breath, then we moved to another porch. (Morning coffee on the porch is the best.) The other family arrived yesterday for their farm vacation. Those city children love nothing better that staying where there is plenty of room to roam and ramble. So we moved to the lake cottage for a while. I have my coffee beside me this morning while I write to you. Daddy-O is always ready to pour me a refill.

But before we get into gear with this next family (we are plenty close enough for lots of visiting) I want to share the recipes I made last week. Our peach season here lasts quite a long time as different varieties come in, so these will likely make another appearance on our table. Whether that table is at the farm or at the lake.

This is the recipe we've all used for years. Follow the directions exactly—especially the "no stir" part. And be sure to use a 2-qt. baking dish. Don't grab that 9x13 dish you use for everything else!

PEACH COBBLER

3-4 cups of sliced fresh peaches

1 ½ cups sugar, divided

¾ cup plain flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

¾ cup milk

1 stick butter

Put 1 cup sugar on peaches.  Set aside.  Melt butter and pour into a 2-qt. baking dish.  Mix remaining sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and milk. 

Pour batter into melted butter.  DO NOT STIR.

Spoon peaches over top of batter.  DO NOT STIR.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden brown.

And then there was peach ice cream. There is a long story about the ice cream making last week that ended with me now owning a new countertop ice cream machine. And realizing we need to replace our ancient freezer.

Peach Ice Cream

But all you need to know is that this is the easiest ice cream recipe ever. Todd first made a fabulous vanilla ice cream. His recipe involved a lot of steps, used a vanilla bean and cream cheese. It was perfection. I will happily eat his anytime he makes it. But you know me, I mostly do easy. This recipe is ready to pour into the ice cream maker in minutes.

This ice cream tastes like the kind my mother and daddy used to make, but it's been tweaked to make a smaller amount since the countertop machines (the kind where the container is stored in the freezer) make 1-1/2 to 2 quarts. And it does not use raw eggs like Mother's old recipe. In current day cooking "rules" raw eggs are a no-no.

PEACH ICE CREAM (no eggs)

1 (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle Brand)
1 (12-oz) can evaporated milk
1-1/4 cups whole milk (I have also used low-fat but it's not as creamy)
about 1 cup of cut up ripe peaches (I used 2 large peaches) 
2 tablespoons sugar
a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about a tablespoon)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

pinch of salt

Use a whisk to mix the 3 milks together thoroughly and chill for 30 minutes. (I just put my cans of milk in the refrigerator ahead of time.) Mash up peaches with fork until there are no big pieces left. Stir in sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Mix peaches with milk mixture. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to appliance directions. Freeze until done, about 20-25 minutes.

At this point, it's very soft. You can place the ice cream container (removed from maker) into the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm it up a bit. Or, transfer to a plastic container and freeze it.



These early variety peaches never got very soft, so I ended up using my handheld immersion blender on the peach/sugar mixture. Mashing with a fork wasn't happening.

Don't like peach ice cream? Use this recipe and change the fruit. (We love the strawberry version.) Or, double the amount of vanilla if you want to make vanilla ice cream. Cookies & Cream also works. Just add your crumbled Oreos after the vanilla ice cream mixture is about half frozen. These ice cream makers have an open top so you can do that while it's running. 

Google "no cook ice cream" for other flavors. Although I haven't tried increasing the amounts to make a big churn of ice cream, I don't know why that wouldn't work.

When Mommy and J-Daddy are in residence at the farm, he shows off his cooking skills with gourmet meals each night. (I hear that he loves my big kitchen.) And we get to enjoy many of his creations. That's a major treat. Looking forward to seeing what he makes this time. 

Maybe it will involve blueberries. I picked these right before we headed to the lake. The first bowl full from our dwarf blueberry bushes. Little Sister and Baby Girl are in charge of keeping them picked now.

And now....back to my coffee. "Daddy-O! Would you bring me a little more, please?"