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Memorial Day Weekend is when the peaches are ripening faster than we can eat them. There is nothing like a warm, juicy, fragrant peach plucked from the tree, rinsed off and eaten while you’re standing in the sunshine. However, when there are 50 lbs. of peaches waiting to be plucked you have to find some way to deal with them.

From now on Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial Peach Festival in our backyard and kitchen. Brian tried his hand at making peach jam, which turned out yummy. He also made peach chutney with dried cranberries instead of raisins, since we didn’t have any raisins. Don’t know how that turned out because it has to mellow for a few weeks. I think it will be fabulous with the turkey breast he smoked on Sunday.

We made heavenly peach ice cream with a simple recipe:

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half
4 cups smashed peaches
1 1/2 cups sugar

That’s it. Combine the sugar with the cream and half and half. Stir to dissolve. Put everything in an ice cream maker. This makes about a three quarts of ice cream.

I’m not finished yet. Also on the peach menu are peach pickles, peach barbecue sauce made with mustard, canned sweet peaches in sugar syrup, peach cobbler and, because by this time we really needed it, peach sangria.

Smash 6 or 7 ripe peaches.
Add to 1.5 liters Rhine wine
Pour over ice.

Oh, if you want this to be a cooler, fill a glass with ice and then halfway with club soda and to the top with the peach sangria. The drunken peaches at the bottom of the glass when you finish the cooler are wonderful served over the peach ice cream. You know I bet you could add a scoop of peach ice cream for an adult ice cream soda.

I’d say I’m all peached out but the tree still has another 20 to 30 lbs. of peaches. So we’ll be making more peach jam… and if we get brave we’ll try making peach wine. My grandmother made mulberry and strawberry wine so if she can do it I think we can make peach wine. The good thing is you’re not supposed to peel the peaches before squishing the juice out. We will need 1 gallon of peach juice so that should take care of the peaches that are left.

Why use a mix when it’s easy to make fresh, tasty potato soup yourself? The salty bacon compliments the sweetness of the sauteed onions. Wrap it up all together with a little heavy cream and lots of potatoes. The trick is to mash some of the potatoes and leave some in chunks. Decrease the fat by substituting turkey bacon for regular bacon and skim milk for the cream. Because you’re browning the onions in the bacon fat the soup will not be pure white but take on a beige color from the bacon and lots of flavor.

Cut three slices of low sodium bacon into one inch slices. Fry until the bacon browns. If you’re on a low fat diet, drain the fat. Or use turkey bacon instead. Chop one medium onion into 1/2 inch cubes. Chop two slices of celery into 1/2 inch cubes. Sautee the veggies over medium heat until they’re soft. That should take, maybe five minutes. Keep an eye on them. Onion contains sugar and they’ll burn quickly at too high a heat.

Add one quart of low sodium chicken broth, or 4 cubes of low/no sodium chicken bouillon cubes and four cups of water. Let the mixture simmer for 15 minutes. No, we haven’t forgotten about the potatoes.

Peel three medium to large potatoes and chop into 1/2 cubes. Add the potatoes to the soup and let simmer on low heat another 10 minutes. The potatoes should be soft and easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Remove about a cup of the potatoes and mash with a fork. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of cream. If you’re on a low fat diet add 1 cup of skim milk with 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir the flour into the milk, add the mashed potatoes and then add back to the soup.

Bring up to a boil. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. The flour will continue cooking as the soup cools.
Serve with a fresh fruit salad.

Leftovers are great the next day. If you don’t have quite enough soup left, add 1- 2 cups more chicken broth, 1 cup of frozen corn, and one cup of little cooked shrimp.

It’s easy to vary the potato soup by adding a few different ingredients. Add clams for clam chowder. Smoked sausage goes nicely with the potatoes. Or try chopped leeks and dill and leave out the bacon. Add chicken and peas and chopped parsley.

Make up a double batch and freeze half for another night’s supper.