Thanks for the Great advice on Freezing without doing the Pectin sugar syrup way. Also I read back in a book about 10 years ago.. our forefathers and mothers use to take barrels or Brandy and Preserved their peaches that way. Modern times would be is take 24 oz mason jars- Peel and Pit your Peaches cut in 1/2 -Sterilize Mason Jars after sterilized jars set up- Stick a cinnamon stick a the innards of a vanilla Bean (of course both are optional but it's to give it more flavor- fill Jar with peach leaving at least 1in from top-..Warm a Med expensive Brandy (plain Unflavored- Not the cheapest not the most expensive) Or you can even do it w/ Southern comfort- ( make sure you get enough Brandy ( it's not as cheap now as it was back then) warm brandy on medium heat ( do not boil but make sure it's Hot- Take off Heat- and fill up jars- Put on lids and screw on tops . Put in canner and do a hot bath for 10 Min. let it cool down for 24 hours to make sure tops have set and sealed.. Label and set date.. Alcohol is a Natural Preservative.. No sugar or Pectin needed- Can last for probably 3= years- ,, so what do you do with the peaches-?.. Peach Pie.. Peach Jam it with have the flavors of the Brandy and spices but the alcohol will Burn off-- What do with Brandy? well now you have All Natural Flavored Vanilla Cinnamon Peach Brandy-- This could be used as a sipping brandy for special occasions.. Holidays etc.. I Make Rum, Bourbon and Brandy Balls around the Holidays-Make a Brandy Cake (Instead of rum or Bourbon) Marinade a Duck, Turkey Pheasant, or Chicken In a Baking Bag and Let it Cook in a Baking Bag- You will have the most succulent tender bird.. and the alcohol cooks off.. Save enough put it in a Gravy pitcher.. Light it on fire and pour over your Bird.. for a flare of elegance.. (it burns Off)

Good to hear from you Ken. I agree with everything he says. I use acsorbic acid as a pre dip and add it as Ken does sprinkled over the finished product as well, before I freeze. But since you already have Fruit Fresh (acsorbic mixed with citric acid) on hand, you can certainly use it as a pre dip to save the color. (Ascorbic acid works much better though). Mix with water according to the directions on the Fruit Fresh container for a pre treatment and slice the peaches right into it, doing only enough for one pie at a time so as not to let them soak too long in the dip. I also used to sprinkle more of the fruit fresh, when I used to use it, over the finished product before freezing as well. I use 6-7 cups of peeled, sliced, (red centers cut out)peaches per pie (same process for apples but I only use 6 cups apples per pie). If the peaches are ripe, you can just cut the peach into quarters, remove the pit, cut out the red inside, turn the quarter over so the skin side faces you, hold the quarter in one hand and with the other holding the knife, use the knife to grab the top of the peel as it faces you, on each quarter and pull the peel down and off. I never do the boiling thing except if the peaches are not ripe, but then I wouldn't can or freeze them anyway,but I might make jam with them. How many peaches is that? Depends on the size of the peaches... 1 pound = approx 4 medium (tennis ball size)= approx 2 cups sliced. So that would make it approx 12 medium peaches for 6-7 cups of sliced peaches for one pie, in a gallon size baggie for the freezer. My peaches just into the freezer, took 15 to 20 for 6-7 cups because they were so small and had portions cut out that were bruised. As for the clear jel, I'm still fussing with the amount. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/can_pie/pie_fillings.html The recipes at the above link are for canned fillings. I use these recipes as a starting point and then freeze them. But the amount of Clear-Jel is excessive. I have printed some dialog from another post here with Carol & Linda Lou talking about the recipe for apple pie, filling: Carol- "Here's the link to the NCHFP recipe, which calls for 1 1/2 cups (Clear-Jel), but personally I'd cut it back to 1 cup or even less ClearJel unless you like your fillings really dense." Linda Lou- "I agree with Carol about the pie filling being too thick. When I helped teach the new gals at the extension office this spring I had them thin their pie filling down. No oozing out of the jars that way. Otherwise it does tend to rise up in the jars and ooze out, keeping them from sealing. The headspace when canning pie fillings is important. Corn starch should not be used for the pie fillings, only Clear Jel. Cornstarch will break down and get watery." Carol- "Another downside of those recipes. They're far more likely to boil over. I tend also to allow more a bit more headspace (3/4") for that reason. I really don't know what the extension agencies are thinking of, recommending so much thickening. I freeze ClearJel-thickened cherry pies (unbaked) and put them in the freezer with no problems whatsoever. I don't see any reason why you couldn't freeze the thickened filling. I have never experienced separation of ClearJel in the freezer. Those canned quarts are never sufficient for a pie, as far as I'm concerned. You basically have 3 cups of fruit and all that thickening. I generally use 5-6 cups of fruit per pie, so if I'm making two pies I'd use three quarts of canned fruit, only one of which would be thickened. The other two quarts would be drained of most juice and added to the thickened mixture." (me again Rebecca)- I do the peach pie filling in one of 2 ways to prepare for freezing: 1) I drain the peaches well from the dip. I put the peaches in a large bowl. I mix the Clear-Jel (I usually use about 1/4 cup per pie in 6-7 cups of sliced fruit) with a small amount of sugar, (amount of sugar can vary wildly according to the peaches and your tastes but I guess I usually start with 1/4 to 1/2 cup). I sprinkle another teaspoon or so of ascorbic acid (you= fruit fresh) over top, then I stir all very gently together with a large flat spoon or rubber spatula till sugar is dissolved, then pack into freezer gallon size baggies, press flat to remove air, seal and freeze flat until frozen, (then you can store any way you want). By the way, I really prefer the Glad freezer bags that don't use that pull zipper thing- it seems to catch on everyting in the freezer and punctures things.) Sometimes I put just the sugar over the peaches, stir gently and let sit covered for about 5-10 minutes. I can then taste the peaches to see if they need any more sweetening, or if they need a dash (1 to 3 TBS or so) of lemon juice to tart it up. I then also add my 1/8 tsp salt and seasonings, like cinnamon and/or fresh ground nutmeg and I taste again. (I do a lot of tasting, always with a clean spoon each time). The peaches will give up some juice, which I drain off into a bowl. I then add the Clear-Jel to this juice using a wisk- it can take a minute to get the juice and the Clear-Jel mixed well enough. Then I then add the juice and the Clear-Jel slurry back into the peaches/sugar/lemon juice/spices, add more fruit fresh at the last minute, mix gently and pack and freeze. 2) I lightly blanch/cook the peaches first... to dissolve the sugar, to incorporate the Clear-Jel and to pre-thicken the filling as well as to 'slump' the fruit before freezing and baking, which is the same exact process I use if I am making a pie to bake and not freeze. I do the same as #1, but I add only the suger to the sliced peaches and let them sit for about 10 minutes. Then I drain the juices off. I wisk the clear-jel well into the juices until mixed. I put the juices into a saucepan (large enough to later hold the peaches), and heat the juice on medium high stirring all the time until it just comes to a gentle boil. Then I add the lemon juice and simmer for about a minute, stirring constantly. Then I lower the heat to medium, add the peaches and simmer gently, always gently stirring, for about a minute or 2. Then I remove the peaches from the saucepan (I just put them back into the big metal bowl they sat in earlier, (I add the salt & spices anywhere along the line), where they sit, covered, until cool enough to pack, adding fruit fresh/ascorbic, and freeze. The benefit is that I can see how thick the filling is before freezing and like Ken said- if it's too thin you can make a slurry out of a small amount of water and more Clear-Jel, add to the peaches when they are still being heated, cook another minute or so and correct the thickness (too thick when cooler, like Ken said I just add some water). This summer I froze 2 unbaked peach pies, made 2 gallon bags of peach pie filling for another 2 pies and froze another 5 gallon and 4 Qt bags of plain peach slices (treated with ascorbic and packed with a light sugar syrup) that I use for peach crisp or cobbler, eating as is etc. Lastly I froze 3 QT size bags, treated with ascorbic but no sugar, (each holds 2 cups sliced peaches) that I will use to make no-sugar jam for my diabetic mother in law, in my breadmaker. Each 2 cups makes 2 half pints of jam. I have found that using 1 TBS Clear-Jel mixed in with the water, then the peaches in the breadmaker jam thickens the jam perfectly, much better than the full box of pectin the breadmaker suggested. I also mix in a tiny amount of Splenda at any point in the process if it's not sweet enough. If anyone reads this and if anyone knows- I purchased some "Therm-Flo" at an Amish type market nearby. It was next to the Clear-Jel. The Therm-Flo was marked 'canning/freezing', while the Clear-Jel was marked 'cooking'. No other directions on either. I'm getting confused with all the types that are out there. I know the link above says you must only use regular Clear-Jel for canning, NOT the instant or any other Clear Jel. But I've seen online canned pie fillings that call only for Instant. I believe Clear-Jel A is now the 'regular' Clear-Jel used in the pie fillings in the site link above. But what the heck is Therm-Flo? Is it the freezer Flo Ken refers to above? How is it used that is different than the 'regular' And what do you use the instant for? I have some of that too but don't know in what or how to use it either. Oh well....lilacs of may- enjoy having and preparing all those peaches, and don't worry. I've had soupy peach pies and dry peach pies and many perfect ones. We have loved each one regardless, hot out of the oven on a winter day, on a plate with a fork or in a bowl with cream and a spoon. It's all so good and worth the effort. Best of luck to you, Rebecca

> DD is almost 8 and wants to be a vegetarian b/c she feels sorry for the animals. We explained that you have to eat vegetables to be a vegetarian. Man cannot live on bread alone but my DD sure would like to try! Bless her heart! I know the feeling. Yesterday, after releasing a possum (trapped in my garden) at a lake 10 miles away, I was warned by a MO Dept of Conservation agent to not do it again unless I kill them first. Ditto the raccoons I catch. I have no problem with setting out mousetraps, but do have a problem killing larger animals and even some insects. I was raised to respect animals & that if you shoot something while sport hunting you eat it. Best not let her read Peter Tompkins's "The Secret Life of Plants" LOL! Since reading "The China Study" a year ago, I've cut way back on meat in my diet. > So this morning I ask little girl if she would like pasta bake for lunch. She looks at me and says "Ick. I don't like pasta bake." Oh the joys of 6 years old. Been there... LOL!

The trick to protecting plants from cold is not just to cover them, but cover them *including* something that holds a lot of heat. For example, cover them, and the ground under them. The ground holds a lot of heat, and will slowly release that heat during the time when the air is coldest, into the air trapped inside. If you have a tall potted plant, include the pot in the wrap. Same thing. Seal the edges. Don't invite the cold air to get in. If the edges of the tarp are on the ground, throw some 2x4s on the edges to hold them down. What is funny (and sad) is where I see people wrapping a *plant*. Just the plant. Like a tree in a pot with a tarp just around the tree. That's a sure way to kill the plant. What you've wrapped up has no source of stored heat, and the temperature inside will pretty quickly drop to the air temperature outside. A blanket around a person is warm because a person makes heat. A plant does not. Obviously, in doing this, insulation helps. For a really hard freeze, layer multiple tarps. I throw a sleeping bag over plastic tarps. For the worst freezes, and a few square yards of bed, put a 100W light bulb inside on the ground under the tarp, on an extension cord. I've kept some peppers alive this winter, and we've seen multiple hard freezes, with temps going down to the low 20s. Well, it looks like my three year old bananas bit the dust, but my TAMU Jalapenos will survive.