Peach pie perfection

Back from my summer vacation, it's time to put nose to grindstone and get back to the old routines. Well, that's not really how it feels in the cooking department. Being back in my home kitchen, with all my favorite cookware and serving ware and implements around me, feels like playtime!

And the produce in the market is so lovely right now. The best tomatoes and corn and beans and squash. Big fluffy bunches of basil so I can make up enough pesto to fill up the freezer so I can enjoy a taste of summer during the cold months.

And the fruit! OMG, the figs and berries and grapes and peaches! I could never decide which summer fruit is my favorite, but the peach is pretty near perfect. It's juicy and sweet and such a stunning color. And ephemeral. A peach can go from lovely to rotten in the matter of a few hours on a hot day. When you find a perfect peach, you must eat it immediately. I recommend standing in the yard taking big bites, with juice running down your chin, or baking succulent slices in a crust to make a pie.

My neighbor LJM did the latter recently and kindly shared it with the super-spouse and me. She used very little sugar, letting the peaches speak for themselves, and thickened the juice with a sprinkling of tapioca pearls. The pie tasted of sun and satisfied a deep hunger in us all.

It made me feel a bit wistful, though, because now I know summer is on the wane. Peach pie brings a message: Summer is passing and winter is not far off. Wake up! Savor the moment!

Not one to dwell on thoughts of the cold and the dark, though, I'm going to squeeze every dazzling drop out of summer. I'm dancing into the kitchen right now to play with my food!
vegetarian food cooking peaches pie