June 30, 2017
The Peach Truck Made Me Do It
By Valinda Wagner
For the past few summers, I had been too late in learning about The Peach Truck – the semi-truck from Georgia, with its cult-like following, that comes to your town for only a few hours on a select summer weekend, to sell those delicious, juicy Georgia Peaches. https://thepeachtruck.com
This summer, I was ready. I got the truck tour schedule from social media and off I went, only to find:
a) The Peach Truck sold peaches only by the half bushel, and
b) There was a line of peach loving customers longer than a Georgia mile.
People were buying bushels and bushels of peaches. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement and fury, but in the end at checkout, I exhibited self-restraint and only bought half a bushel…which once I got home, felt like a lot of peaches…peaches that were all getting very ripe at the same time.
What in the world was I going to do with all those ripe peaches? After a couple of Google searches, I found the answer camouflaged as “The Easy Peach Preserves recipe”. 5 star rated with many reviews using the words “easy”, “simple”, “family loved it”, “will definitely make it again”.
Ha! First, there was a trip to my grocery store and then to Wal-Mart. I finally had all of the equipment and jars. Then, after another hour of sterilizing the jars, peeling peaches and letting then macerate, I was finally ready to start the recipe, which involved a lot more attention and finessing over a boiling hot pot of peaches. I kept having childhood flash-backs to my grandmother’s kitchen, where she would spend days canning fruits and vegetables. She always looked tired and hot, and now I knew why.
The fruits of my labor yielded only 7 half pint jars of peach preserves. But I have to admit, they taste amazing – perfect on a toasted English muffin. To be truthful, right now I don’t think I can endorse them with “will definitely make it again”, but who knows. Ask me next summer when The Peach Truck comes to town.