Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

Unfiltered and maybe an hour away from ready this last batch of peach syrup was screaming for some vodka and lemonade! I always test my syrups but this was a "taking one for the team" moment in our 90 degree heat! The addition of the slightly-sweetened whipped cream made the "task" a enjoyable experience and I am excited to say that my peach syrup made from Indian Blood Peaches is a great success. A drop of raspberry essence was added to this experimental batch and greatly enhanced the natural raspberry-like flavors of the peach!

I'm like a nervous new mommy waiting for the first blooms of my wonderful heirloom peach tree. Here's the first blooms! After carefully fertilizing and pruning, I'm anxious to see if the size of these delicious raspberry-scented peaches will increase. Keep your fingers crossed!

This fun project has been a labor of love!  Pretty heirloom Georgia peaches that have provided a little mystery-a tree deposited on my front doorstep over thirteen years ago.  The man described them as King Peaches-small raspberry-scented peaches used by his grandmother for pickling. The mystery is that most experts can't identify the peach and are stumped by the name and variety.  I will continue to dig and hopefully share information about my mystery tree.  My next project is uncovering the best method to regrow the tree. My tree is thriving and providing me with hours of fun and study-even keeping me awake one night as I considered what I would do with this year's crop. In keeping with the origins of the tree's story and history I decided the first project of the season would be pickled peaches in honor of the gentleman's grandmother.  After all the conversation that led to this wonderful gift was shared stories about our grandmother's pickl...

    It's hard to believe that these pinky-red beauties are peaches. Back in March I shot beautiful images of the spectacular blooms that laced my pretty little tree! And for the first time since planting the tree I had a treeload of small peaches. I am having a difficult time identifying the variety and if anyone recognizes the 2 1/2 - 3 inch peach I would appreciate some help! It could not be a more perfect peach for my taste! Sweet, somewhat firm cling peaches. The flesh is a brilliant pinky-red with a distinct raspberry peach taste! I mean, come on! Perfect on a delicate angel food cake, next year I will take the production much more seriously, ensuring that not one small peach ever hits the ground! If you remember from my earlier blog, I remembered the name as a King peach-at least part of the name. I remember because my great-grandfather on my mother's side was a King, from Serepta, Louisiana. The gentleman who plucked my small tree from the wild assured me this wa...