Wonderful 59 degrees this morning, crisp and bright morning.
I was up to my elbows in peaches yesterday. It was a hard day; these were free peaches from a neighbor's tree and had a lot of insect damage, bruising, etc. So much cutting, trimming, and care. Some were cling, which means that the seed does not come away from the pulp easily--meaning more cutting. And they're small. As I cut the peaches up, I dropped the pieces into a pot of water with some lemon juice in it to keep them from turning brown.
I ended up with 5 quarts, and then took the water I'd put them in, cooked it down, and made it into 5 pints of peach jelly. The water was full of peach juice and bits of pulp and made a pretty jelly. This was water I might have normally tossed out, but this time I was able to use it, given the amount of juiciness in these peaches.
The other thing I've been working on has been fun: dehydrated tomatoes. I've wanted to try this for years, and finally this year I have time to do it. The tray above holds a couple Black Krim slices and the rest are a large pink tomato that puzzles me because I don't remember planting pink tomatoes. It may be from a volunteer plant, as we had several good healthy volunteers this year.
There are about 10 tomatoes of various sizes in this pint jar. I could probably pack it fuller, but this is fine. These are the same as the popular sun-dried tomatoes; I could cover them with olive oil to store them too. I may try that with the batch I'm drying today. This is a great way to use up small amounts of tomatoes--we're getting tomatoes ripening in dribbles, which makes it difficult to make things like pasta sauce, but I can dry a small batch every day.
So back to the kitchen for more peaches. I'm about a third of the way through, so I see a couple more long days ahead of me. Is it worth it? I'm not sure, truthfully. But here are the peaches, and here I am, so that's all there is to it.
I'snt that the truth . . . that is all there is too it!
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought to make jelly from the water you put the peaches into! Did you add a thickener like Certo? I've never dehydrated anything. What else do you use your dehydrator for? -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI cooked the water down by about a third, Jenn, then measured and added Sur-Jel according to the recipe on the package. I also added a bit more lemon juice. Didn't measure that. Then I followed the recipe for the amount of sugar. As for the dehydrator, I use it for drying onions, peppers, herbs, leeks, ramps--a local wild onion--and my husband uses it to make deer jerky. There are probably other things we've dried that I can't think of right off.
DeleteI'm sure that you will appreciate it when you enjoy eating what you made. We use to can apples and peaches years ago. It wasn't fun but it was worth it in the long run. Enjoy your week!
ReplyDeleteThe peaches do sound like an awful lot of work for little return. I wonder how they would be dehydrated? All you'd have to do then is cut them up.
ReplyDeleteI'd been looking for a dehydrator & actually found a brand new one in the box at a yard sale last week for $4. Yeah for me. It has run nonstop since I bought it pretty much. I dried a lot of oranges & am doing strawberries & plums today.
I plan to make some zucchini & cucumber chips as well.
I've been making roasted tomato spread with my small tomatoes. It's so good & easy to make just a pint or two at a time while I do other things.
Have you tried a slice of the tomatoes? There seems to be mixed reviews about skin on or off. What do you think?
ReplyDeletei have tried them, Tressa, and they're delicious. I left the skins on. The slices are quite brittle, and I think I could easily turn them into a powder if I wanted to.
DeleteWe have a peach tree that produces small peaches--none this year, thanks to the late frost. You are right--they are a lot of work to put up, but nice to use later on. Brings a touch of summer to drab winter days.
ReplyDeleteOooh free peaches, I would love to have some of those.....!
ReplyDelete