This week’s frustration is tasteless peaches.  I sorted through a basket of peaches at my local grocer, carefully selecting those that had a peachy smell, and just the right amount of give.   To me, nothing says summer like peach juice running down my arm.   HOWEVER, these particular peaches deceived me, and there I was, stuck with $6 worth of inedible peaches. 

Because I’m in Michigan, and peaches are always hit-or-miss, I have a few contingency recipes.  The first one is to make a pancake topping, which I did this morning.  This generally requires supplemental fruit, because the peaches don’t bring much, if anything, to the party.  This morning I chopped up 2 peaches, tasted them again to see if a miracle had occurred (it hadn’t) then put them in a saucepan with 1/3 cup sugar, some cinnamon, and some lemon juice, and cooked and mashed until it was as good as it was gonna get.  It wasn’t very good.  So, I tossed in some frozen blueberries and cooked until they were thawed, then just let the pan sit until cooled.  I did this because I have some leftover pancakes in the ‘fridge, and it’s easy.  My youngest son was quite happy.

My other two choices are Peach Chutney and Peach Salsa.   Both are easy to do, are infinitely customizable to personal taste (the chutney has raisins which I cannot abide), but what I really like about them is that they can double as marinades if you puree them.  I make these when the peaches are good, as well.   Marinating a pork tenderloin in the chutney, and then grilling is really tasty.

If you have peaches, good or bad, search through the recipes for some tasty ways to use them.