Canning Peaches

This year we were lucky (blessed) to get peaches from the church farm out in Hurricane. Once the church canned 1 million pounds of peaches, they opened up the farm to the local stakes to have members come in and glean the remainder for free. We already got apricots, more on that in July. So I piled the kids in the car on Labor Day at 7 a.m. and off we went.
Having never done this before we weren't sure what to expect. I took 6 laundry baskets and 1 five gallon bucket. Well..... the farm was a total zoo. I guess people know what to do with peaches.
I was so panicked that once we started off down a row I told the kids to strip whatever tree they came to that had peaches. (Next year I will pick in several locations. The families that went on Saturday got beautiful canning peaches. I later found out I ended up with jamming peaches.)

At the time I wasn't sure what kind of peaches we were getting and they weren't as big as I was hoping, but they were free. So I couldn't really complain.

So we packed our loot in the car and headed home.

Once we started canning them up I realized they were not good canning peaches. I did 21 quarts then stopped. I decided okay, I'll juice them up. This worked just fine but after another 28 quarts I stopped. How much juice do I need? At this point I still have 4 laundry baskets left.

Well fearing that I would be punished for letting them go to waste, I called a friend who gave me a jar of peach salsa that was super yummy. This ended up being the perfect fix for peaches that aren't good enough to eat or can on their own. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stuff! I seriously could drink it. This is what it looks like once its all mixed together and heating up. So... I bottled up 62 pints.

Crazy enough we still had 3 laundry baskets left. So I hunted through my Ball book and found a Zesty Peach Barbecue Sauce. It has a similar look to the peach salsa. The taste is a little zippy. We had it over chicken that we baked in the oven. It was really good!

This is part of what I was able to do in three days. I was trying to get ready to go to Maine, so I had to can my little heart out. Thankfully my mom was able to do the peach pie filling while I was gone. I split everything I did three ways with me my mom and my sister.

Peach Salsa:

6 lrg. Onions chopped

6 Red bell peppers chopped (or any color bell pepper)

6-7 Serrano peppers (or jalapenos)

2 Bunches Cilantro chopped

8 quarts pitted, peeled & chopped Peaches

1/4 C. Salt

3 C. Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tsp. Garlic (chopped)

1 tsp. Black pepper

1/4 tsp. Oregano (ground)

1 tsp Cumin

3 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

3/4 C. Sugar (you may do more or less depending on sweetness)

1/2 C. Ultra gel (may use more if you want it thicker)

Mix everything together in large stockpot, bring to a boil then fill jars, hot water bath or steam can for 25 minutes. Makes 21 pints. Enjoy!!! (You may also eat this fresh)

Zesty Peach Barbecue Sauce:

12 C. Pitted, peeled & chopped Peaches

2 C. Red bell pepper chopped

2 C. Onion chopped

6 T. Garlic chopped

2 1/2 C. Honey

1 1/2 C. Apple Cider Vinegar

2 T. Worcestershire Sauce

4 tsp. Hot pepper flakes (you may add more or less depending on hotness)

4 tsp. Dry Mustard

4 tsp. Salt

3/4 C. Ultra gel (add more if you want it thicker)

Combine everything in small stockpot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 25 minutes stirring frequently. Ladle into jars, hot water bath or steam can for 15 minutes. Makes 10 pints. Enjoy!!!

For both these recipes I used my food processor to chop up everything, its very quick.