"I'd Call Her Peaches"

{Love Them}

Grandma Peggy says if you can't smell them then they won't have a good taste.  This coming from a woman who raised her kids in Southern California back when...according to her... you could tell if produce would be good because you could smell it when you walked by.  (Sounds lovely doesn't it?!)

So, when peach season hit this summer we were ready to test out the theory...

For the adventure of the day we decided to follow a sign I'd seen off the road advertising U-Pick Peaches and find a few gems.  I packed up the boys, we picked up Grandma, and off we went looking for some peaches to call our own.  We followed a small yellow handwritten sign so we weren't sure where is would take us, but we were up for the challenge!

And after following many twists and turns down Oregon farm roads on a hot, clear summer day-- with the boys in the back yelling to us where we should go-- we made it!

We unloaded and went on our treasure hunt.  Well, most of us.
I'm sure he couldn't help himself.

And look at these beauties!  

We picked and tasted each variety...several times. 

And as I watched Ethan carefully picking the best ones off of the trees, I remembered just how much he LOVED peaches.  In fact, a few days earlier he was just about to bite into a nice big fatty peach when we said,

"If I had a baby I'd call her peaches." :)

And he found a few sweeties to take home.  Although most of the peaches we picked weren't quite ready for, we waited for them to ripen and give us that good smell Grandma (pictured with Ethan above) was talking about.

And once they were sweet smelling, they were divine.

{Peach Jam}
And with some of these peaches I made jam.  Its SO easy these days!  With instant pectin all you have to do is cut the fruit, squish it up, add sugar/sugar substitute, and put it into jars!  Of course there are other types of pectin that are great too.  {Want more details? My INSTO-JAM post is here.}

And if you mess it up trying to do the boiling thing (like I did...that's story for another day) and it doesn't firm up quite like jam, then it can be used as a pancake or ice cream topping! :)

Yay for peaches! When is peach season in your neck of the woods?!

Toad's Tip: Next time you get a nice peach in your hands go ahead and cut it up, grab some good ice cream, sit down, and watch the kids run around as you enjoy every last bite!

Oh, and if you'd like to take the joy of peaches around with you all year around just be sure to name your next baby Peaches! I'm sure Ethan wouldn't mind. :)

Happy Peach Season!
Toad