Palisade Peaches

I bought a case of peaches last month, from the West Slope of the Colorado Rockies in a little town called Palisade. Around these parts, peaches from Palisade have quite a good reputation for being juicy and oh-so-delicious.

That same weekend, I made a batch of peach jam (you see those cooling off in the foreground) and 12 quarts of peach halves in light syrup. I really enjoy canning and preserving the harvest, a skill my mother-in-law taught me. She learned from her mom, so it's in honor of Grandma Mary Keller that I used her tools to put up another year's worth of peaches... something she did every summer.

I've also canned tomatoes from my garden, and even made concord grape jelly last fall. (and I heard through the grapevine (pun intended!) that I might be getting another box of grapes in the next week or two. )

In the dead of winter, when the snow is blowing and everything is bleak and dark... it is such a JOY to bring up a jar of peaches from the basement. It's summer all over again- the sweet aroma of peaches fills your nose and you taste pure sunshine in every peachy bite.

Nothing beats hot, fresh from the oven peach cobbler in January, right? I'm looking forward to it.