Fresh Peach and Whiskey Ice Cream

I've got a double-whammy to share with you today—Eat a Peach Day and this month's round of she made, ella hace with my friend Leslie from La Cocina de Leslie! Two reasons for one delicious post. Well, I guess it's actually two since both Leslie and I are sharing a recipe. Hmmm, so maybe it's a triple-whammy. Or would that make it a quadruple-whammy? I'll let you ponder that (or not) while I turn my attention to PEACHES!

My kids went back to school this past week, but we still have another month of summer to go—that means tons of fresh produce is still rolling in. My kitchen looks a little ridiculous right now. My counters and table are overrun by tomatoes, chiles, zucchini and yellow squash, corn on the cob, and green beans. I'm not even the one with a garden, my neighbors are. Not that I'm complaining (much), but I find myself without any space in my teeny-tiny kitchen to prepare or put it all up!

So what do I do? Hit up the market and roadside stands for deep ruby plums and fuzzy peaches. You know, so I can fill in the tiny gaps and form teetering pyramids. The fruit disappears in a flash, though, so I had to snag a couple of those peaches to make this ice cream. Yeah, I'm still in full-on ice cream mode, too.

Peach Riesling Buckle

This summer has absolutely flown by. It's so hard to believe that Labor Day is lingering just around the corner. Although it's not the official end of summer, it's always been a marker of sorts to signal that the long lazy days we've been relishing are coming to a close. When I was a kid, we didn't head back to school until after Labor Day, so I'm sure that plays into my mindset. Of course, by the time it rolls around these days, my kids have already been back in school for a few weeks.

School or no school, we try to enjoy one last hurrah over the long weekend. You can bet that grills are fired up; coals sizzling as fat melts down...smoke clinging to the humid air. But there is also tons of fresh produce on display, like tomatoes so ripe and flavorful that you can eat them like apples, to peaches that streak your chin and arms with sticky sweet juices, to corn so sweet it's like eating sugar from a cob. Those are some of my favorite things about the tail-end of summer.

Well, today the Sunday Supper crew is joining Gallo Family again, and we're bringing you a menu filled with Labor Day Entertaining recipes. So, of course, my mind was turning over all sorts of riffs on that produce that just screams summer in my ear. Both of the wines that we are featuring this month are sweet and light bodied. Either would compliment a Sunday Supper under the late-summer sun. The first is Sweet Red, and the second is Gallo's newest varietal, Riesling.

Peach Amaretto Jam + 106 Peach Recipes to celebrate EAT A PEACH DAY!

There are some (okay there are many) food holidays that I can't resist. One of those holidays falls today, August 21. Yes, it has to do with my love of the late summer that is soft and fuzzy on the outside, and sweet and juicy on the inside. HOWEVER, it's not "National Peach Day" or "Peach Pie Day", it's one better. It plays not only to my "foodie" side, but also to my affection for music, specifically The Allman Brothers. Today is EAT A PEACH DAY!

Eat A Peach is the name of my favorite Allman Brothers album. With classics like Melissa, Ain't Wasting Time No More, and Mountain Jam, just listening to the album conjurs up warm summer nights and peaches picked straight from a Georgia (or Michigan for me) tree.

So, in honor of Eat A Peach Day, I really wanted to make some peach jam and call it "Mountain Jam" (like the song). Now my local SW Michigan peaches aren't plucked from trees in mountain orchards, so I suppose I can't rightfully call it that. But secretly (or not so secretly), I'm still going to.