Fresh peaches, softened, pureed and stewed for a fruit spread that is summer in a jar.

Peach Butter

When it comes to preserved fruit, I am generally much more of a jam or preserve gal, because while butters are usually pureed and have a smooth texture, I rather enjoy the presence of some chunks of fruit, so I guess it's a texture thing for me.

My Mama never canned, well anything, not that I can recall at least, so I never knew much about the subject and had little interest. Since starting a blog about food however, I've certainly seen a lot and as "butters" go, apple butters are featured all over the place with bloggers in the fall.

Fresh peaches, tossed in lemon juice and skillet cooked in a buttery, brown sugar sauce with cinnamon, vanilla and a bit of whisky or bourbon, if you like. Shown here with my Grandma Mac's Perfect Pound Cake.

Skillet Peaches

Southern peach season - typically mid-May through mid-August - is in full force... and I have barely eaten any fresh peaches!

I don't cook with them much, mostly preferring to take them as a fruit snack really, and the past few years, I've been ordering peaches from around the south that we don't get here.

Somehow, I missed it this year, and last year even. Although you can still find some peaches around town, mostly from California. No doubt they're fine peaches too, but you can't match a local peach, and by local I mean the south in general - Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, of course.

 

Peach Cobbler, made with canned peaches and a sugar and flour crumble topping.

Canned Peach Cobbler

When I went to make some spiced peach halves recently, I accidentally opened a large can of sliced peaches, so I thought it would be a great time to put up this version of peach cobbler. As if any Southerner would need an excuse for a comforting pan of warm peach cobbler, even if slap in the middle of winter, right?

I usually refer to this as a winter cobbler because it's intended to be made when peaches are out of season, though I see no problem with using canned peaches or frozen peaches any time of the year frankly. It is especially excellent when made with peaches you've home canned yourself, though store bought canned peaches are delicious too.

Easy spiced peaches, made from canned peach halves and a spiced vinegar and brown sugar syrup - a perfect holiday side.

Spiced Peaches

Lots of folks still put up peach preserves and butters and jarred slices and peach halves in the summer, and many of them are sure to include a few jars of them spiced.

They really are delicious.

Did you know that you can get that same tasty flavor for a practical holiday side dish, with no canning and just a few basic, pantry items? These really are so simple to put together and just the perfect accent to the holiday meal.

A fresh peach jam made with peaches, sweet red bell peppers and jalapeno.

Peach and Pepper Jam

Like cornbread, whether a hoecake is make from flour or cornmeal, what is the so-called "right" way to make southern chicken and dumplings and how we all make other regional foods, the title of who can claim the top peach in the country is one of those things that can create an argument quickly among several Southern states. Truth is, I figure whatever peach is local to you is probably the winner.

Fresh Peach Sweet Iced Tea - Sweet southern iced tea enhanced with a puree of fresh peaches and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Fresh Peach Sweet Iced Tea

It's gettin' to be southern peach time and we've got the early Georgia peaches already showing up in our markets down here in south Mississippi. The first batch I picked up were nice and ripe and supremely juicy, so I thought it'd be a good time to use some for peach tea.

Summertime Peach Cobbler - super easy cobbler made with fresh peaches, cinnamon sugar and a simple buttery batter.

Summertime Easy Fresh Peach Cobbler

Cobbler has to be just about the one easiest dessert in existence, yet in its simplicity, it is both heart and belly warming. It's hard to see one without throwing a craving on yourself to make one!

Apart from an old fashioned dumpling style cobbler, this is based on a very basic, old school batter that many of us, including me, have used for years, and it works well with a wide variety of fruit.

It is often referred to as cuppa cuppa cuppa cobbler, or 1-1-1 cobbler because it used one cup of butter, one cup of flour and one cup of sugar, though I've revised mine a bit from the original, reducing the butter and, because I like it a little more cakey, I use a method that is just a tad bit different. It's a very simple recipe and it works.

A super easy, sour cream snack cake with peaches.

Peach Crumb Cake

This recipe comes from the cookbook Bite Me by sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat, who really make cooking a fun and funny experience.

Apparently one of the authors had a secret addiction to Twinkies so the other sister concocted a crumb cake that was meant to help satisfy those cravings.

Little fried hand pies made with fresh fruit or dried, your choice of pastry and either pan fried, deep fried or baked. No matter how you prepare them, they are a true Southern Classic!

Southern Fried Hand Pies

A reader over on the Facebook page asked about these little southern delicacies and we started chatting about everybody's favorites, and of course, impressionable me, decided I had to make some right away! I get cravings thrown on me like that all the time.

Super easy fresh apple cobbler made with cinnamon sugar, fresh apples, pecans and a simple butter batter - highly adaptable too. Use this batter with peaches, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, mixed berries, pear - whatever you have!

Fresh Apple Pecan Cobbler

Thankfully, apples are available year-round these days, but as I write this, it's fall, and that mean apples are both plentiful and cheap right now and even though Mother Nature cannot seem to decide whether we are in full blown summer or fall down south, I thought that an apple cobbler sounded so good.

I've mentioned before that I'm not really much on "seasonal" cooking anyway because I like to cook what I have a taste for, when I have a taste for it, and my taste buds don't seem to have a calendar. This apple cobbler is a great base for many other seasonal fruits also!

Easy Homemade Southern Peach Ice Cream

Ice cream made with fresh peaches, sweetened condensed milk, half and half and instant vanilla pudding, makes a creamy texture that you'll be sure had to be from a homemade custard.

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Homemade peach ice cream is another food that makes me think of my Grandma Mac. She didn't make it often during the summer, but when she did, it was so good. She had the old-fashioned hand cranked type of ice cream maker too - what a lot of lovin' work must've gone into making that ice cream, and goodness, it sure tasted it too.