Pickled Peaches

Today I picked 49 more peaches. It's so nice to be able to work with small batches--it doesn't take all day!

Pickled Peaches

1-3" cinnamon stick, broken
1 tsp. blade mace (preferably) or nutmeg
1-1" piece of fresh ginger, sliced thin
1 tsp. allspice berries
1/2 tsp. whole cloves

3 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. water
3 1/2 c. white wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar
4 lbs. small ripe (but firm) peaches, peeled

In a non-reactive pot, combine the dry spices and ginger, tied in a spice bag, with the sugar, water, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat, simmer for about 10 minutes. Add peaches, simmer until heated through and are just tender.

Remove the peaches from the liquid with a slotted spoon, and pack in hot jars. Boil syrup until it thickens a bit, about 8 minutes.

Pour hot syrup over the peaches, divide the spices equally among the jars, and leave 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims, seal with lids and rings. No processing necessary.

Let pickle for at least one month.

Recipe from: The Joy of Pickling--Ziedrich