sweet georgia peaches

i found peaches at a nearby store for 49 cents a pound. "what a steal!" i thought. so i went to the store and bought 11 pounds of peaches.

when mr. pike saw our new stockpile of peaches, he looked surprised. "that's a lot of peaches."

"i got a a great deal so i bought a lot."

"yes, you did. what do you plan on doing with all these peaches?"

"i think i'll can some of them and freeze the rest."

i had never canned peaches before. but having helped my mom with the process several times in the past, i thought it shouldn't be too hard.

well, i neglected to factor in a two-month old baby girl. what should have been a 3 hour activity turned into an all day event.

when mr. pike returned home from work, i was still working on the peaches. i was having a hard time keeping my peaches down after i added the syrup water. and i was getting a little frustrated. having talked with my sister, she said that mom always added an orange slice to the top of the jars. i did remember using orange slices when we canned pears, but my memory was feeling sticky after peeling peaches, halving peaches, and stacking peaches in jars. i needed to go to the store to get oranges.

"mr. pike. i need to get an orange. are you okay with baby girl for a bit?"

confused on why i might need an orange, but smart enough not to ask what it was for, mr. pike agreed and i hurried out the door.

the orange slices stacked on the top of my peaches did little to weigh the peaches down. (and later i found out that my mom only uses orange slices with pears.) but now tired and frustrated, i decided to process them anyways -- crossing my fingers it would work anyways.

i had filled up the canner with water already, and as i put in my seven jars, the water level rose. it rose and rose until i about overflowed the canner. i still had two jars to fit in. so then i started scooping out water with a measuring cup. i tried adding a jar -- still too much water. so, i continued to scoop water out.

finally with all the jars comfortably in their water bath, i started cleaning up. peaches are very sticky -- and it took three times mopping my kitchen floor before i felt no more stickiness.

when the jars finished processing, they were also sticky. but they all sealed. now the clean jars are stacked in our pantry -- ready to be enjoyed all year long. and believe me, we will savory every bite!