Peach Overload

A couple weeks ago little j's summer camp went peach picking. Like I imagine most 5-year olds do, she has a fascination with all things small, as in, "Can you make me little baby pancakes?" So of course her bag was filled with peaches the size of plums. We don't seem to eat a lot of stone fruits in our house, for whatever reason, so they'd been around a while when I cleaned out the fridge today. I knew I had to do something with them.

Last summer little j fell in love with apple butter and I thought that she would love peach butter even more. Okay, that turned out to be the understatement of the canning season. She LOVED it. After her first taste she said, "Could I have a bowl of that?"

Ordinarily I would have canned, but because I only had a little over 3 pounds of fruit I ended up with about 12 ounces which will definitely keep in the fridge until little j eats it up.

Spiced Peach Butter

4 pound of peaches, peeled, pits removed and cut into chunks
1/2 cup water
Juice and zest of one lemon
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Put peaches, water, and lemon juice and zest in large pot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes or until peaches are soft.

Run peaches through a food mill or in a food processor until smooth and consistent in texture (about 10 one second pulses in a processor).

Put puree into clean pan. Add sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Set over medium high heat stirring constantly until sugar has melted and puree begins to simmer. Lower heat to medium low and allow to simmer for up to 60 minutes, until desired consistency is achieved.

Place into jars. Process for canning if desired.