Peach season is here! We have been going to Peter’s Market at Waverly, MO for years to get peaches – so delicious! We buy enough to have peaches to eat and enjoy now and some to freeze for later.

Peaches are such a sweet treat! Scrumptious as a snack – or made into your favorite pie, cobbler or muffin recipe.

To freeze peaches, begin by cleaning the peaches.

With a knife, score a shallow “X” on the bottom of each peach.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Blanch the peaches by submerging them in boiling water for about 30-60 seconds. The more ripe the peach, the less time it takes. I found that 30 seconds is about ideal for ripe peaches.

Immediately transfer the peaches to a large bowl of ice water.

Leave the peaches in the ice water for about 1 minute.

Set on paper towel and pat dry.

The skins should slip off easily.

The freshly peeled peaches are so beautiful!

To prevent browning, mix 1 gallon of water with 3000 mg of ascorbic acid. You can use 1 teaspoon of Fruit-Fresh, or crush six 500 mg vitamin C tablets and add to the water. You can also sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of Fruit-Fresh, per quart, over the fruit just before adding the sugar.

Cut the peaches in half, remove the pit, and slice them into the size you like into the water and ascorbic acid mixture.

When all the peaches have been peeled and treated (I usually prepare about 18 peaches at a time), drain the water.

Place drained peaches in a bowl and measure out 1/2 cup of sugar for each quart of peaches.

Add the sugar to the peaches and gently stir.

Let the fruit stand for 15 minutes, the peaches will begin to make their own juice. While you are waiting, label your freezer bags or containers.

Pack the peaches into freezer bags to within 3-4 inches of the top. Squeeze out the excess air, seal and freeze. If you are using plastic containers, leave about an inch of headspace before freezing.

Wipe off the bags.

Place in the freezer – now you can have tasty peaches all year! Enjoy!!!

Fruit Pizza is a family favorite here. It’s relatively easy and can take as much or as little time when arranging the fruit as desired. Any type of fresh or canned fruit can be used. I like strawberries, peaches, bananas, kiwi, raspberries, blueberries, you get the idea. Make sure and dip the banana or apple slices in lemon juice before placing on the pizza. It’s also a good idea to save some fruit juice ahead of time for the glaze. Once again, any flavor or combination can be used.

This recipe is for two 12″ pizza pans or three 8″ pans. I usually make half a recipe and use a pizza pan but sometimes I want to use a particular dish so I use my math skills to determine the sizes of dishes or pans needed. So when your geometry teacher told you knowing how to figure the area of a circle would be useful in life here is an example. Lol

Prepare the crust and bake until slightly browned. Some recipes use purchased sugar cookie dough for this step. While the crust is baking I prepare my glaze so it can be cooling.

Combine the icing layer ingredients and spread over the cooled crust. Now the fun part-arrange the fruits however you want and cover with glaze.

This can also be prepared in a cookie sheet and decorate each square piece separately. One time I made sugar cookies and had the icing and assortment of fresh fruits for a fruit pizza bar at a bridal shower.