The best peach I ever ate was in Italy, somewhere right off the Amalfi Drive on a trip I made with my mother. Maybe that peach tasted so good because it was our first trip to Europe and everything seemed special and magical — the sights, the hotels, the food. Everything. We took a tour bus on that particular day. It was summer and it was hot and the driver stopped in a little village where there were vendors selling fresh fruit just picked off the local trees.
We each bought a peach. A gigantic, ripe peach with a rosy glow and a fragrance vivid enough to attract bees as well as tourists.
Those peaches were so juicy that with each bite the sweet, pink liquid trickled down our forearms like the way it always does when a kid eats ice cream too slowly in the heat.
I’ve never tasted a more perfect peach. But I’m always looking for one and every year I buy hundreds during the summer in the hope of biting into peach paradise once again.
I must say, this year’s peaches have been exceptional.
No, not exactly like that one in Italy so many years ago. But maybe that’s just the power of memory.
I’ve already eaten several peaches this season, but I bought so many recently that I used the leftovers for this crisp, which I made for a Tea our local Hadassah group holds for cancer patients and their caregivers every other week.
Hope they liked it!
Peach Crisp
filling:
6 ripe medium peaches
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
crust:
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter
Lightly butter a baking dish. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the peaches and cook for 10 seconds. Drain under cold water. Peel the peaches and discard the pits. Slice the peaches into a bowl. Add the sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon, toss the ingredients and place the mixture in the baking dish. In a bowl combine the brown sugar, oats and flour. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Place on top of the fruit. Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Makes 6 servings