After admiring everybody’s backyard gardens, I took a trip to the produce market and came home with enough fresh food to cure any lingering trace of garden envy. The peaches were irresistible at 40 cents a pound, and I bought enough to cause snickering in the checkout line.
I also came home with six pounds of tomatoes, some nectarines, broccoli, cilantro, limes, and three pounds of ripe cherries. (For all of it, the total was less than $20!) I wanted to take advantage of the good seasonal produce while I had the chance.
The peaches are going to be sliced and frozen for smoothies. We’ll make roasted tomato salsa, and I’m hoping there will be enough salsa for canning. If we have time and the cherries last, maybe we’ll have cherry cobbler too.
From my container garden, I gathered basil leaves and made pesto with toasted pine nuts. There’s so many different ways to make pesto — you can vary it with cilantro or spinach and try different nuts or cheeses, but I prefer traditional basil pesto the most. I love how the leaves smell. I spread the pesto over a slice of homemade bread, and then had even more with pasta later.
Goodness, I love summer.
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July 24, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Laura
Wow! I wish we had a place by us to get peaches for a price like that! It all looks delicious!
July 24, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Megan@SortaCrunchy
Hi Rachel! I had a few minutes to get on and blog surf tonight. I’ve spent most of my time here getting caught up! (But I thought it would be annoying if I went through and commented on every single post.) Anyway, I’ve so missed reading here. You continue to inspire and enlighten and I seriously want to be you!
All the fresh fruits sound (and look!) delish. Enjoy!
July 25, 2008 at 2:02 am
Laura @ Move To Portugal
May I come and eat at your house?
July 25, 2008 at 6:54 am
Denise
My son loves peaches. I can envision him eating two or three of those in one sitting. Fresh and in season fruit is the best by far.
July 25, 2008 at 8:04 am
Nancy
Oh the produce looks & sounds fabulous. Our family loves fresh peaches. I actually have to place a limit on how many they can eat in a single day, otherwise it would all be gone at one sitting! I’d love to get them for 40 cents/lb. - no bargains like that here. Enjoy!
July 25, 2008 at 10:27 am
Ann at One Bag Nation
I went to the farmer’s market yesterday and picked up a flat of gigantic raspberries for a great price. My daughter loves them and they’re such a healthy snack.
Prices at our markets are generally high, so you have to be careful, but once the peaches come into season, I splurge!
Your photo is lovely.
July 25, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Kirstin
Yummy!!!!! I love your blog every time I visit.
Those peaches look fabulous.
July 25, 2008 at 6:33 pm
louisecol
Those peaches are simply mouth watering! Mmmmmmm!
July 25, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Melissa
I wanna come over for tomorrow for peaches and pesto and a little BBC America.
July 26, 2008 at 1:52 am
smallnotebook
I WISH we could have a peach party! And that Jessica would bring her homemade ice cream.
July 26, 2008 at 8:35 am
dropofkim
I can’t WAIT to make it to the farmer’s market now!! Beautiful pics!
July 26, 2008 at 10:32 am
Denise
Rachel, do you do anything else with the peaches before freezing them? and do you put them in ziploc freezer bags?
July 26, 2008 at 11:16 am
Lora
Those peaches are just beautiful, especially in that bucket! And your pesto sounds sooooo yummy!
July 26, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Andrea
That is a crazy price for peaches! I wish ours were that cheap. I was at the farmers’ market today and the peaches were $2.99/lb. I’d buy a giant basketful for $.40/lb.!
July 27, 2008 at 3:47 am
Toblerone @ Simple Mom
You take beautiful photos! Lovely.
July 27, 2008 at 10:07 pm
smallnotebook
I couldn’t believe it when I saw the price. I think I might go buy more. My apartment smells like a peach orchard.
Denise, I’m just planning to peel and slice them, and then I’ll set them on a cookie sheet to freeze. I read somewhere that I should dip the slices in a lemon-water rinse first, so maybe I’ll experiment to see if that makes any difference. Then when they’re frozen I’ll put them in ziplocs.
July 29, 2008 at 11:19 pm
smallnotebook
Denise - your suggestion to boil the peaches for a couple of minutes before putting them into cold water was excellent! The peels just came right off, and your tip saved me so much time. Thanks!