Friday 22 February 2013

Fruit pies

Long time no blog, not even a Zucchini Tuesday, I have been busy.  I have been away from hearth and internet doing courses on being a farmer, grazing cattle, keeping chooks and  building soil and have come back with my head swirling and full of ideas (and just think, some of my workmates thought that I'd be bored here).

On my way home I couldn't resist a little gleaning. Whizzing down the Hume I saw many trees laden with fruit, very few of them with a handy spot to stop close by. But on the Sydney side of Goulburn there was a perfect spot for gleaning. There were two apple trees dotted with rosy fruit near a handy layby so in no time at all I had collected a large basket full.



On arriving home I found that we had 4 enormous bowls of peaches waiting for me. Beautiful orange skinned ones  -  all cling stone and with very little blush. Despite nightly wallaby raids, there was still ample fruit for the wallaby and us.


My immediate thought on dealing with the glut? Fruit pies, so I got skinning the peaches and stewing them,


and stewing the apples, and with the assistance of the Lad's masterful pastry hands I had made 12 beautiful fruit pies - 6 peach pies with stars,


and 6 apple pies with flowers.


They have a rich shortcrust on the bottom and flaky on top. They are pretty good...


Now my problem is, how to eat them all.

Oh and now the Wallaby visits in daylight hour as well as in the evening. He is quite an old male wallaby with tattered ears and a fat tummy!


So that's 2 of the 4 bowls full of peaches dispatched, not sure what to do with the remainder. You can't eat that many peaches fresh.... I have lots of jam put away already and don't need any more and I have already a stash stewed in the freezer for winter eating and a jars of peach chutney -  any suggestions?

And I also have 3/4 of a basket of apples  to dispatch!

13 comments:

  1. Having more peaches than you know what to do with sounds like Heaven to me! Is it possible to dry them?

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    1. I must say its pretty nice. That it is my only glut this summer is a shame, but I am enjoying their heady fragrance. Dried is a really good idea, thanks!

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  2. I agree with Mark. Dried peaches are really good and keep well. Love the pies. Yum. Can you freeze those pies for later in the year?

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    1. I cant stop eating the pies they are so delicious. I am justifying it by saying there is a huge proportion of my daily fruit intake in every pie. My freezer is curently groaning with stored food - rabbits, stewed peaches, stewed plums, stewed apples... need a freezer more suited to the need to store food in a rural setting.

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  3. I agree with Mark - dry them. You can try drying them in the sun but with the wallaby around during the day that might be risky, depending on how brave he is and where you put them. I'd be more inclined to invest in a dehydrator - mine cost about $150 and I've dried lots of herbs and fruit. In fact I dried peaches and plums just last week. Or you could consider just bottling them in a sugar/fruit juice syrup for the best bottled peaches you'll ever eat!

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    1. I think I need a bit of equipment... or perhaps I can just try oven drying. You are right, leaving the fruit out in the sun wont work here - too much temptation. The current pick of peaches are clingstone and a little more difficult to deal with than the first maturer that were freestone. Next year, now I know what to expect, I will use the first maturing freestones to bottle.

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  4. Those pies look divine but I am most jealous of your gleaned apples - there just aren't enough fruit laden trees around here for my liking. You could freeze stewed peaches and use them for pies later on. Ditto apples. Or bottle them. Apple sauce? I just made a batch of fruit chutney that used apples, peaches, plums, tomatoes, dried fruit, dates and ginger. I reckon a really spicy peach chutney could be a winner - kind of like mango but not if you know what i mean.

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    1. OOOh, I am liking apple sauce. My freezer is groaning with produce at the moment and couldn't take much more. Lots of rabbits, stewed fruit already stashed and very little room for any other frozen produce. I like the sound of your peach chutney idea, I have made one variety already that is quite good with cheese but a spicy one would be great, thanks for the idea.

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  5. Great minds think alike. Yes definitely dehydrate them they are delicious and keep for easily up to a year i still have some left from last season. Also i discovered a great recipe for dried peach jam at my local farmers market it was so tasty.

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    1. I have never dried anything before, but here is great incentive. I love dried apricot jam and bet dried peach jam is fabulous.

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  6. Drying them is a great idea! Though I haven't used it as much as I'd like, my dehydrator is very handy for times when I just don't know what to do with excesses. As a matter of fact, it is running at the moment, full of rosemary. I had to cut my bush back so rather than throw it all out, I'll see how it dries. I doubt I'll need dried rosemary as the shrub is perennial but others might.

    Those pies look fabulous, as does your fruit. Oh, and the tatty wallaby.

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    1. Yep, that's it, have to get drying... never done it before so here is my chance!

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  7. Wow I am jealous of both gluts. Dried peaches sound beaut. I made a salad with peach cubes today which was gorgeous. Or what about juices or smoothies with peach?

    As for the apples if you wrap them in newspaper and they don't touch they last for ages. Good luck

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