Tag Archives: fresh peaches

Peach Jam with Jack Crane

Posted on by October 25, 2014

My friend Jack Crane wanted to make Peach Jam as a thank you gift for his teachers, and he wanted some help. Thoughtful last day of school gift, right? I planned a little field trip of my own to help Jack learn how to make Peach Jam, but I may have been more harm than help. Things didn’t go quite as we’d planned, but the day was both a lot of fun, as well as a good lesson in how to roll with it and have fun in the kitchen. We ended up making shelf stable peach compote, rather than jam, but it was truly delicious, and we had a ball. We also learned a lot about how to prep for our next canning adventure. I have to say that making Peach Jam with Jack Crane was one of my favorite days in the kitchen to date. We wanted to make low sugar jam with local peaches, so we used the recipe on the Ball low-sugar pectin. They were so beautiful and delicious that we had to sample some of them. Here’s the website: http://www.freshpreserving.com/tools/pectin-calculator# It turned out that we cut the sugar too much, didn’t cook the jam down … Continue reading →

Chilled Peach Soup

Posted on by April 27, 2015

This Chilled Peach Soup recipe is based on an appetizer I used to have at the Inn at Kristofer’s in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. The restaurant was one of my early exposures to fine dining. I’ve modified it a little to suit my taste, but it’s basically the same as what they used to serve in a martini glass. Of course, at the time, I thought this was the absolute height of sophistication. Even if you’re serving it in little plastic cups (I found square ones to dress it up a bit) you’ll find this is a great recipe for a large group. I tripled the recipe (and left it at one bottle of champagne) since I was cooking for a party of 30 and using it as an appetizer, but the quantity written here is the right amount for 4 – 6 people as a first course. Chilled Peach Soup cried out to be included on the Derby Party Menu and indeed it was perfect for a hot day celebrating a Southern tradition. As an extra reminder, this recipe is of course, best in late July and August when you have fresh local peaches, but it works quite well with frozen … Continue reading →