The Secret to Regularity

The secret to regularity is peaches.

On Saturday morning, we drove to a U-Pick orchard with delicious peaches. When we go, we try to time it to arrive when the first of the apples are also ripe, usually the Galas. At the orchard, we picked up a cart, some 5-gallon buckets, and a fruit picker for the apples. It's a bit of a walk out to the peach orchard, but the dogs really enjoyed new sniffs.

Once we got out to the trees that were ready to be harvested, we had to decide what kind of peaches to pick. We sampled a Red Globe and were impressed with its juicy and sweet flesh. In the next row were Suncrest which were tasty but not as peachy or juicy. Since I wasn't planning to make pies or cobbler, for which I think firmer peaches are better, we opted for the Red Globes.

It didn't take long for the dogs to decide it was too hot for them so my sweetie headed back to the car to give them water and find a nice shady spot to hang out. I continued picking peaches, planning to fill one of the buckets with nice tree-ripened fruit. Sadly, there were a few peaches that, once picked, I noticed the birds had taken a few bites out of the back side. Not one to contribute to the waste of food, I ate the unmarred juicy parts. By the time I headed back to the apple orchards, I'd probably eaten the equivalent of about four large peaches. And by large I mean half-pounders.

It was starting to get hot and crowded, but I forged ahead and picked a few pounds of early Jonathans and Galas. Then it was time to stand in the long lines to weigh and pay for the fruit. Transferring them into boxes for transport home took even longer and I realized quickly that I should not have focused so much on picking the perfectly ripe fruits. They were bruising very easily.

We capped off our time at the orchard with a couple slices of peach pie ala mode. I noticed too late that they were now offering a veggie version of the apple-smoked burgers. Maybe we'll do that next year.

After the long drive home, I discovered that my diet had apparently been lacking in sufficient fiber lately. All the fruit pectin and fiber in my system did a great job of clearing things out but, honestly, I got a little tired of having to head to the bathroom so often! Of course, this didn't stop us from having peach ice cream for dinner. Yes, for dinner, not dessert. And this morning, I had fresh peach slices on my cereal.

After defrosting the chest freezer, I spent several hours this afternoon slicing peaches. I added each peach to a large bowl, where I tossed them with lemon juice. When the bowl was full, I added sugar and tossed them again. While I washed the next batch of peaches to peel, my sweetie scooped the juicy slices into bags to freeze. We have one bag left from last year, each bag containing just enough for a small bowl each when we defrost it halfway for an icy treat.

I bought over a bushel of peaches last year but did not get as carried away this year. I will remember, though, to grab a bag from the freezer the next time things are not going as smoothly as needed!