Today was going to be a hot one, we're talking 90+ degrees. Without a source of cool air I knew that the only bearable time to can peaches was before sunrise.
It's not often I rise after sunrise (we're talking summer sunrise, not so much in the winter months), often finding the space between night life & business hours refreshing, peaceful, rejuvenating.
During this space in each day I choose not to check my e-mail, refrain from housework and try not to attend to the needs of others unless needed.
I do make coffee. I sit. Sit peacefully. Sit with a good book or faithful journal. Sit with ideas, memories, thoughts of friends & family.
Needless to say, I don't have to be at a high functioning level during these early hours. I can be as absent minded as needed to embrace the space between myself and the spirit surrounding the early morning air.
So last night I prepared - knowing that preparing and doing all in one early morning was going to be too much for my brain. I set out my full preserving pot, ready to boil. I placed another pot of water on the adjacent burner with a bowl of cool water close by - prepared to blanch 12 lbs. of peaches. Across the kitchen (the whole three feet across the kitchen) I placed a large bowl out with three Vitamin C tablets to prepare the anti-browning solution, with a slotted spoon beside for the peach transferring. The peaches were weighed out and both a butcher and paring knife were placed on top of them for the slicing. To top if off I unscrewed six quart jar lids and placed all eighteen parts on my drying towel.
I was prepared.
The alarm was set for 5am and at 4:30am I was up & ready to go. 90 degree weather with a partnering thunderstorm will do that - wake you up before your alarm, begging to be noticed.
At 4:37am I started the blanching burner. 4:40, Little Tomato began yelping - morning nursing, 2 hours early.
5:15 Nursing, Jake's lunch & breakfast are complete & ready.
Let the blanching begin!
Yet, in all my preparedness I had for some unknown reason placed two empty unused jars on the floor next to our set of drawers that houses utensils. In moving from the unblanched peaches to the blanching station I tripped, kicking one jar into another and shattering one in a million little pieces.
Blanching burner turned down, again.
After a quick sweep and some short-term sorrow over broken glass the blanching burner was turned up once again and off we were!
Except when I got to lb. 10 I found that I was running low on boiling water and all of my ice cubes were officially deceased as I was using what was left in my cool blanching water. I made due but note to self: fill hot blanching water higher than you would expect & make to sure to prepare enough ice cubes the night before. Check.
When the blanching was done and the peaches were ready to be cut & baptized (that sounds like the title to a dark novel) in their anti-browning solution, I began a slicing. I learned form previous peach preserving moments that it's best to cut your peaches in 8ths, as opposed to 6th - you can fit more peach slices in each jar & the liquid often seen at the bottom of your jars in smaller.
See the difference? Peaches cut in 6th (right) vs. 8th (left)
Have you ever sliced blanched peaches? If so, you know. You know the unspoken connection you make with these slippery red & gold globes.
And yet they are just that - slippery. And I cut myself. The top of my left pinky to be exact.
I threw, literally, my peach & pearing knife to the side and with every desire to prevent blood from infilterating my peaches I ran to the sink, soaked my finger, walked to the bathroom to find that in the midst of our temporaryness, we don't have band-aids. So with toilet paper, a plastic bag & masking tape I made myself a bandage. How? It's best not to ask.
Fast-forward anti-browning - my syrup has boiled, cooled and brought back to a boil once again. My peaches are ready to can!
And yet they are just that - slippery. And I cut myself. The top of my left pinky to be exact.
I threw, literally, my peach & pearing knife to the side and with every desire to prevent blood from infilterating my peaches I ran to the sink, soaked my finger, walked to the bathroom to find that in the midst of our temporaryness, we don't have band-aids. So with toilet paper, a plastic bag & masking tape I made myself a bandage. How? It's best not to ask.
Fast-forward anti-browning - my syrup has boiled, cooled and brought back to a boil once again. My peaches are ready to can!
I pull the quart jars out of my preserving pot (where they were getting nice & hot) and the bottom of one of my jars falls out, literally falls out. Keep in mind, by the way, that I have never broken or had a jar break before, until this morning. Off to find another quart jar, heat that baby up and start our engines.
The rest of the peach preserving went fairly smooth, thank you God.
The jars are beautiful. All 12 (6 from the previous night) sealed without a hitch and all in all, I feel quite confident in my peaching abilities. Post 8:00am.
*Spiced Peaches
Provided by Better Homes & Gardens Canning Edition
5 1/4 cups water
2 1/4 cups sugar
12 whole cloves
2 3-4 inch cinnamon sticks
10-12 lbs ripe peaches (you know their ripe when you can ever so gently push in the top of your peach)
anti-browning solution
First off, the syrup. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan combine your water, sugar, cloves & cinnamon sticks together. Bring your ingredients to a boil, stirring often to assist the sugar in dissolving. When your solution has come to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. When your five minutes is complete, let your syrup cool for 30 minutes.
You then want to begin your blanching. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. In addition, you need to fill a large bowl with ice water. I always make a little slit at the top of my peaches before lowering them down into the boiling water, although it's not necessary. What is necessary is that you lower your peaches into the boiling water gently to roll around for 30 to 60 sec. Using a slotted spoon, remove your peaches from the boiling water and place them in the ice water. When your peaches are cool enough to handle, have fun & peel those skins off. It really should be beyond easy, if not - chances are your peaches are not yet ripe.
Cut your peaches in half, discarding pits and continue to slice into 8 pieces in total. To prevent discoloration, place peach slices immediately into your anti-browning solution (asorbic-acid or Vitamin C concoction).
As you are doing this, you'll want to begin warming up your syrup again, bringing it back to a boiling for a moment. At this time, if you would like your peach jars free of cinnamon sticks or cloves you can remove thwm with a slotted spoon. I took out my cinnamon sticks but kept in the cloves - mostly because it was too much work to get the cloves all out :)
When your peaches are all sliced, remove your jars from your preserving pot, where they should be nice and hot, and pack your peaches. Once your peaches are packed ladle your hot syrup into the jars, covering the peaches and leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe jar rims and place on the lids.
You'll want to process your peaches in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes (starting your time when the water returns to a rolling boil). When your time is up, remove your jars and look at how you preserved beauty.
*After making spiced peaches I made a batch of non-spiced peaches using the same recipe, just leaving out the cinnamon sticks & cloves. Simple as that.
