Yes, there have been quite a few peach posts here lately.  Perhaps I am just so proud of my prize Palisade Peaches I won.  (For more on that see my other post Life’s A Peach.)  True as that is, I found myself with so many peaches I didn’t know what to do.  Make them into blogs for you of course!  I promise this is the last one!

A whole lug of these deliciously ripe peaches was more than I knew my household would eat before they went bad.  No waste allowed in this stay-at-home-mom’s house!  I knew I had to find a way to freeze and save some, or maybe almost all of them, just to be sure.

Pioneer Woman is certainly not an accurate description of me, but I was up for the challenge.  I found the process to be simple, though truthfully a bit time consuming with the amount I had.  In the end it was well worth the effort to save valuable food and learn a new culinary skill.  See directions with photos below.

Begin with fresh, ripe peaches…

Step 1

Cut a shallow slit in the shape of an X in the bottom of each peach

Step 2

blanch peaches–place a few at a time into boiling water for 30 seconds-3 minutes.  Mine took over 2 minutes.

Step 3

quickly cool–remove with a slotted spoon and place in an ice bath

Step 4

peel–once cooled, I used the edge of a paring knife to lift up the skin where the X slit begins.  The skin will simply lift and peel away.

 

Step 5

remove pits–slice all the way around and break in half.  Remove the pit and discard.  Be careful with this step, peeled peaches are slippery!

Step 6

slice peaches

Step 7

prepare to freeze–sprinkle with lemon juice and toss if you want to preserve the color.  If a little oxidizing/brown doesn’t bother you skip the lemon juice.  Place peach slices on a pan or tray.  Spread them out so they don’t touch.  This will make them easier to handle once frozen, they won’t be a big peach chunk.

Step 8

freeze

 

All done!  After a few hours the peach slices will be frozen.  Measure, bag, and label for storage.  Now you have perfectly homemade frozen peaches.  If you’re looking for a recipe that uses frozen peaches, check out my other post Perfect Peach Cobbler.

What peach recipes do you enjoy?  Let us know!