J P And The Giant (Box Of) Peach(es)
We recently got a giant box of peaches. A giant box of peaches may be an everyday occurrence at your house, but it is certainly not in mine. And it made my mind meander all kinds of places, finally ending in a really happy place.
It was recently pointed out to Mrs. JP – – – Hold up here, we must fix something.
I began this blog referring to my more attractive half as Mrs. JP. She tends to be a fairly private person and I was not about to out her among the crazy inhabitants of NetLand. Not you, of course. Just them. But nothing is forever, it seems, and Mrs. JP looked at me one evening this past week and suggested that I start using her name. “Mrs. JP sounds like you own me or something.” Which is certainly not true. I like to think of it as more of a mutual ownership thing, seeing as how we are married for life and take each other for walks and things. So, here we go into a new era at this Blog.
As I was saying, it was recently pointed out to Marianne (the former Mrs. JP) (well, not the former Mrs. JP because we are still married) (the Artist formerly known as Mrs. JP?) (She is going to hate all of these segues, so I had just better move along) that (you didn’t remember that we were still in the middle of a sentence, did you) there was a thing called The Peach Truck . You put in an order online and then weeks and weeks later the truck comes to town and presents you with a giant box of fresh Georgia peaches. Which you pay for, of course.
We knew that we would not eat an entire giant box of peaches on our own and so went halfsies with the lovely young lady who dates our son (maybe someday we will use her name too) and so we did. The lovely young lady even volunteered to pick them up. And then refused to take the money for our half. (We are already plotting our “get even” move by deciding what we will insist on buying and giving to her). Anyhow, a half of a giant box of peaches took up residence in our house. Smelling just delightful, I might add.
In case you are wondering about the title to this tale (there he goes, into another segue again), this peach situation reminded me of a book my kids read in something like 4th grade – James And The Giant Peach. I have not read it, but heard my kids discuss it back when it was coming home with them every day, and so naturally my mind went back there when I was in possession of a Giant Peach box (or at least half of one).
Now let’s get this out there – we are not normally “Peach People”. Well, maybe in our complexions. But as for just grabbing a fresh peach and biting into its fuzzy, juicy goodness, well this is not a normal state for us. We are usually more Apple People. Except in our phone and computer choices, anyway.
Where was I – yes, the peaches. We did eat and enjoy a few, and they were delicious. But in my world there is nothing wrong with fresh fruit that a little pastry and sugar cannot cure. So – – – pie!
We did a bit of research and learned how to do those things that came naturally to generations of farmers. We blanched a whole gob of peaches in boiling water, dipped them in an ice bath, easily peeled the skins from them, cut them up and removed the pits, and then froze what we would not use immediately. Which was nine big, fat, juicy, skinned and cut-up peaches for our very first homemade peach pie.
I will confess one shortcut – we had a pair of frozen pie crusts on hand, the kind you unroll yourself and are indistinguishable from the ones you can make from scratch. We tried a recipe we found online and got to work making a bit of peach syrup and mixing in the fruit.
And then to the oven with it, a process that turned it from this . . .
to this. There was a discussion about whether this recipe was a little heavy on nutmeg, but all in all our initial go at a scratch peach pie was reasonably successful. Though it would have been more successful with some ice cream. But I guess I have added enough success (yes, that’s a good word for it) to my not-underweight frame during our Covid-inactivity, so the pie was probably enough.
Until next time, anyway, because we have at least another pie’s worth in the freezer (if not enough for two). Maybe next time we will go full Laura Ingalls Wilder and do a scratch crust to go with the peaches. Made with lard, of course, because if you’re going to go to all the trouble you may as well go all the way. You only live once, you know, and it’s not like we eat pie every day. And more’s the pity.
And the happy ending? A pie has been shared with some others (and completely consumed), a new experience has been had and there is more where all of that came from. Maybe next time we need to throw a pie party. If you come it’s gonna cost you some ice cream, though.
Photo Credits:
Opening photo – royalty-free photo from pxfuel.com
All other photos by the author
J. P.'s Blog 
The peaches (and pie, for that matter) look terrific. Fresh peaches are truly one of the best things about summer.
Now, if you really want to go all out on your next peach pie, you could make some homemade peach ice cream. It’s not that difficult, my Mrs. has done it a few times. So peach ice cream with peach pie is like fantastic and outstanding all rolled into one every soggy-ing mixture of culinary utopia.
However, just eating a fresh peach is refreshing. And it doesn’t require peanut butter like an apple (the seeded, not keyed, variety).
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The peach ice cream is an interesting idea – we made 2 gallons of vanilla ice cream earlier this summer but have never done peach. One problem there is with one child who has a near-religious objection to fruit in dessert. I know.
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Looks delicious! I much prefer making peach cobbler, which is less time consuming, and goes great with ice cream too!
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Hmmm, a cobbler does sound good. Now you have me thinking – we have a good apple crisp recipe, which converted to a great rhubarb crisp when we were presented with some fresh rhubarb a few years ago. Now I am wondering about a peach crisp. Gee, maybe we could have used an entire Giant Box after all. 🙂
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My Shideler side would rather eat olives and pickles and forget about any and all deserts save the occasional cookie. My mom’s Swander family trucks the icing in like we’re all in Motley Crue or Kiss waiting on Aqua Net in 1987. Myself? I’d rather compromise, though pickle-flavored pies and ice cream don’t sound great. The peach suggestions are intriguing to me, if someone else procured or produced them.
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My Mrs swears that all food tastes better when someone else makes it. 🙂
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Accurate! Particularly with regards to pickles and olives!
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Sounds yummy! I have found that fresh peaches are not as sweet or juicy as they once were. Making pies sounds like a great alternative. I wonder if nectarines would also serve well in a pie. They are, after all, half peach.
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A very entertaining post JP! And I’m happy we now know Marianne’s name, as Mrs. JP, made her sound like the housekeeper on one of those British tv shows like Grantchester. The peach pie looks good but we’ve never been peach pie people, preferring apple. In August I buy a big box of peaches (usually overripe seconds) and do two batches of peach jam, one freezer jam with less sugar and one the old-fashioned boil on the stove on the hottest day of summer. Pie crust is a lost art……I know no one younger than 90 who can do it well. It requires frequent practice, but no one can eat lard anymore so even my mother has lost her touch.
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I can do pie crust but it is a lot of effort for not much improvement over the good store bought ones. I learned how shortly after we got married when I wondered aloud why Marianne would buy pie crusts – I was invited to make them myself if I was so sure about things, so I did. 🙂
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PS. I give you credit for even trying. I attempted it once but it turned out hard as a rock from overworking it, so I gave up. I think I might try it again sometime with butter and a food processor. My mother used Crisco which always made my face break out, even as an adult. You have me curious about the children’s book, as I remember the title, but not what it was about, other than it was a bestseller, so will have to search out a copy.
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This post made me hungry JP! When I saw your header image and title I said to myself “I wonder if JP ordered from the Peach Truck?” That ad kept showing up in my Facebook feed about a month ago. So evidently you did – they look delicious and at the grocery store, if they have Georgia peaches, they are so much tastier and sweeter than any other peaches, so juicy that you need to stand over the sink to eat them and you’ll still have peach juice dancing along your chin.
Decades ago we had kindly neighbors with peach and plum trees. They have since retired to Florida and the new homeowners promptly chopped down the trees to make room for RVs or boats or some such thing. But these neighbor were elderly, afraid to climb a tree to get the fruit … they asked my father to do it and take a big bag of peaches/plums for his efforts. A win-win. My mother made lovely peach pies and cobblers, the likes of which I’ve not seen or eaten in many years. The plums we saved for eating or if there were a lot of them, a plum kuchen was our dessert. P.S. – It’s nice to meet you Marianne, f/k/a Mrs. JP.
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Fruit trees that belong to neighbors is the optimum (says the guy with the black walnut trees in his yard). At least as long as you have an arrangement like you did.
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Yes it worked well and my mom always sent over a plate with treats from their tree for them to enjoy. .
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Welcome Marianne! That pie looks amazing – I would gladly bring ice cream to your pie party to sample it.
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You may have trouble keeping it from melting, given the distance you will have to travel. 🙂
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Well now, welcome to the WordPress party Marianne! (though technically you’ve been here all along). I especially enjoyed this post J.P. because my mother – now in the throes of Alzheimer’s – was a natural with from-scratch fruit pies, made with canned fruit (i.e. Mason jars) passed along from her own mother. Your “finished” picture reminded me my mother’s peach pies were the only way I truly enjoyed peaches back in the day. She could make from-scratch crust with her eyes closed (including a perfect lattice on top). Her cherry pie was always my favorite (not too sweet, not too tart). Also, you MUST read “James and the Giant Peach”. I haven’t read it for years (maybe I will again now) but the story is the epitome of Roald Dahl’s vast imagination (alongside “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). A Cinderella story, but about a boy, a peach, and some fascinating creatures in the garden.
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Glad to stir up some pleasant memories. My own mother could not have baked a decent scratch pie if her life depended on it. My grandma could, but never cherry (a fave of mine) because she made herself sick on cherries as a kid in Nebraska when she was eating half the ones she was supposed to be picking.
Maybe James And The Giant Peach should go on my to-read list. I might live long enough to get to it if I go in order and don’t get distracted. 🙂
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