Peaches Anyone?

My neighbor, Sheri, and I canned peaches today. 88 pounds of peaches to be exact.

Actually, I take that back. After blanching, peeling, and slicing roughly 70 pounds of slippery peaches, then filling 28 quart sized jars with said peaches and sugar water, we decided that we had done enough canning for one day.

It's a good thing too, because my eyes were starting to cross, and as I quickly learned, it's rather dangerous to mix knives, slick peaches and crossed eyes. Nothing good can come of it.

The remaining 18 pounds were divided up; some were peeled and thrown into the freezer to be used in smoothies and desserts, and the others were left on the counter to remind me of the ungodly amount of work that is put into canning peaches. Truth be told though, it's worth it.

If you haven't canned peaches before, but are interested in trying it, here is an easy peasy recipe:

Canned Peaches

Canning Hardware:
Water bath canner, clean and sterilized jars and lids, screw top bands and funnel.
You will also need:
Peaches, Sugar, Fruit Fresh and Water.

* Place ripe peaches, just a few at a time, in a large pot of boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
* Remove peaches from boiling water and place in large bowl of ice water for about a minute, this stops the peaches from cooking.

* Remove skins from the peaches - they should slide off easily - Then slice peaches in half and remove the pit. At this point you can either choose to keep the peach halves or slice them into smaller pieces.
* Toss 5 or 6 sliced peaches into a large bowl and sprinkle with Fruit Fresh. Repeat this step until all peaches have been sliced and Fruit Fresh(ed).

*Place peaches aside and prepare your syrup by boiling 6 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar in a large pot. *Note: Depending on the size of your pot, you can add more water and sugar accordingly, as you will need quite aa bit Be sure to keep it hot.
*Pack peaches in jars and fill to 1/2 inch headspace. Using a funnel, ladle syrup into jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles by running a knife or other flat object through peaches.
*Wipe tops of jars with damp cloth and place lids on jars. Screw bands on jars and place in boiling water bath canner.
*Process peaches in boiling water for 20 minutes.
*Remove jars and let cool on a cloth, leaving room between each jar.
*Store peaches in cool, dry, dark place.