Preserving: Peaches

Peach season is coming to an end, so we took a quick trip up to a local farm and harvested 50 pounds of yellow peaches. Saving some fresh ones for a Labor Day crumble, we preserved the rest. In Argentina we preserved many peaches in the same manner I describe below. They were a perfect mid-winter treat, reminding of us childhood. We even had one jar remaining as we left the farm in Patagonia and managed to take it all the way to Buenos Aires with us (a 30-hour bus ride) so we could enjoy it on our favorite park bench before flying home to NY in January.

First, I make a simple syrup (300g sugar :1L water; ~1.5c sugar: 4c water), adding fresh lemon juice once it boils and then let it cool. We drop the peaches in boiling water for about 20 seconds to loosen the skin, cut them in half, removing pits and bruised bits, and stuff them in sterilized jars. Then we pour the simple syrup over the peaches (peaches maintain their color and texture best when preserved with sugar), seal the jars, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.