After a long, hot summer and plenty of bad fruit (Seriously, is there anything as disappointing as a mealy peach?), it’s finally peach season in Colorado. Our really, truly delicious, worth-the-wait peaches come from the western slopes of the Rockies near Colorado’s peach capitol, Palisade. And I think they are some of the best anywhere. (If I have any Georgian readers out there, don’t get feisty; I did say, “some of the best.”)

Anyway, although the farmer’s market stalls are piled high with local peaches, I usually get them from the church down the street from my house, which sells them as a fundraiser for its preschool. When my bushel(s) arrive, I get very excited. And overwhelmed. Like any other luscious ripe fruit, fresh peaches don’t keep very long, so I get creative and find ways to work them into every meal. In addition to tossing them into my family’s cereal, yogurt, smoothies, lemonade, (homemade peach) ice cream, and salsa, I grill them with meat and also freeze a bunch. After doing that the wrong way for years (i.e. slice a pile of peaches and throw in freezer bags, all really fast so they don’t get brown), I finally learned the right way: Here it is.

I know there are zillions of peach recipes on the internet and at least one cookbook devoted entirely to cooking with peaches, so I will just toss out a few of may favorite peach ideas.

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1 stick unsalted butter, sliced
7 medium peaches, peeled
In a bowl combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add butter and mix (you can use your hands) until it’s crumbly. Slice the peaches and put into a baking dish. Sprinkle oat mixture on top and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Serve with fresh cream or ice cream. I cannot overstate how scrumptious this is.

6 Responses

  1. You are way too kind to include me in the invention of The Peach Thing. That was all you, roomy! It was the way you just threw stuff together and came up with this delicious concoction that solidified my opinion of you as the best cook I know. It was when I realized the difference between someone who could read a recipe and follow its directions (me) and someone who could really cook (you). I’m still the former. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this recipe bc I’ve been trying to reinvent it ever since our days in the Haight.

  2. I just got a terrific deal on organic peaches at New Seasons (Oregon’s own version of Whole foods). I am going to try your peach crisp this evening. I will let you know what my girlfriend and her kids think. Yum..

    1. Wow. What a great recipe Bevin. We all loved your peach crisp (I even enjoyed it cold out of the frig). Can’t wait to try another one of your recipes.