Peaches

Last weekend we spent the day in the kitchen.  I love fall for many reasons, but the onset of fall is my favorite and this is one of the reasons why.  We all gather in the kitchen together to bottle up the last bits of summer and place them on the shelf to enjoy later.  I love it.  I love that when it gets too hot in the kitchen we can open the window and let the cool air drift in.  I love the way it feels to see the fruit in the jars sitting on the shelf like we have captured a bit of time and held on to it.  I love how pretty they are throughout the process and most of all I love how they taste when the cold winter sets in.  The juice of the peaches seems to hold a bit of the sun and tasting that on a snowy day just makes life better.  I love that by doing this I feel like I am holding on to a bit of my mother and a bit of my childhood as well.  Doing this myself always brings back images of her standing over a hot stove in her apron when I was young.  I guess I just love everything about it, which makes it time well spent.