Tis the Season for Canning Peaches!

  

  If you have read my book Legacy Reflections of a Homeschooled Homeschooling Mama, then you know that our family has some treasured friendships with a few Amish families.  Since writing the book, our family purchased a vacation house in Ohio's Amish country where we love to come from time to time.  Most of our days are spent on our hobby farm in Texas, but a few times a year we take the long trip to Ohio and enjoy the beautiful, simple, agrarian life here.

  One of my special friends here in Ohio invited me and three of my daughters over to can peaches this past week, and we had so much fun! The day before canning, we went to the market and bought peaches.  She went with us and helped us select what she thought would be good for canning.  We ended up choosing Baby Golds for the canned sliced peaches and Contenders for the peach jam.  I never knew there were so many different varieties of peaches!
  When we arrived at her farm we all sat outside and began the process of cutting the peaches in half, twisting them into two halves, removing the pit of the peach, skinning them and then slicing them.  Since "Many hands make light work" we were able to do the Baby Golds (for the sliced canned peaches) in good timing.  It was so fun to chat while we worked and to hear the leaves rustling as fall is definitely on its way in Ohio.

  After this we began filling jars with peaches and pouring a syrup made of mostly water and some sugar over the peaches.  Then we wiped down the rims of the jars with a damp rag and put on the lids and rings.  Then it was time to give them a water bath.  We canned twenty-four cans of these sliced peaches, and I am so excited to get back to Texas and line my pantry shelves with these beautiful Mason jars.  

  At this point we started focusing more on the jam by cutting up the Contender Peaches and making the jam mixture of peaches, sugar, and pectin.  My friend has a large oversized water bath canner, so we were able to put quite a lot of jars in one water bath.  When all was said and done we processed twenty-four jars of sliced peaches and twelve jelly jars of jam.  We had to do the jars in two separate batches, but that is a lot of jars in only two baths.  My canner at home will only hold seven quart jars, so this process went much faster with the oversized water bath canner.  

Our friend also taught us how to make a peach slush by mixing pureed peaches, orange juice and a little sugar and freezing it.  This slush makes a nice snack and is a good alternative to ice cream, especially for someone who is avoiding dairy but desires a cold, icy treat.  I am thankful for my friend and for her willingness to teach me more about a skill I have wanted to learn for years.  

  You may remember that I canned five small jelly jars of Dewberry jam a few months back, but that is all I had ever canned until this week.  My sweet friend spent her afternoon teaching us this life skill, and I value her friendship and her sharing with us a skill that can benefit our family for years to come.  My girls are very interested in canning now and have expressed that they desire to can more in the future.  I think this is a beautiful example of how Titus 2 talks about the older women teaching the younger women.  I think this is biblical and beautiful; one generation passing down wisdom and experience to another.  We enjoyed our very peachy afternoon with our kind and dear friend.  We are thankful!