Welcome to another week!
Fallowfield United Methodist Church bakers made and froze 146 Dutch apple, rhubarb, and strawberry-rhubarb pies on August 1. We will also make and freeze pies on August 8 and 15. We’re figuring on making peach pies the week of the eighth, as soon as the peaches ripen. This is the first year I’ve helped get peaches for our fair project. Ah! It’s a big responsibility.
It’s a really tricky thing, watching peaches ripen. They arrive hard as rocks. We set them out on racks to ripen, which usually takes two or three days. Then it’s a mad flurry of phone calls to see who can come the next day to make peach pies.
How do we prepare the peaches for pies? We have an assembly line. We put peaches in a water bath to rinse them. Ladies then peel the peaches. Often we can run a paring knife across the top of the peach, snag a piece of skin, then peel the skin off in long strips. It’s really efficient. Then we cut them in half, twisting the peach halves off the pit. We like Red Haven peaches best, since they don’t cling to pits.
Then we slice the peaches into a bin, sprinkling in a little Fruit-Fresh. Folks dip these out into bowls and head to the mixing table. Sugar, flour, and salt are added, and then they’re spooned into fresh pie crusts. We freeze the pies, then bake them during fair week. Peach pies are one of our most popular sellers, and I’ve noticed that no matter what a person’s favorite pie flavor is, if we’re out of that pie, they’ll always settle for peach.
If you’re looking for fun this weekend, come down to Atlantic Community Days. Fallowfield Fire & Rescue is hosting Community Days on Friday, August 12, from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, August 13, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The event will be held at the Fire Station, 9328 Atlantic Road. Expect kids’ games, face painting, raffles, and food. They’ll have hamburgers, pop, funnel cakes, and more. Froggy will be broadcasting live on Saturday.
There will be a car show Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a Chinese auction, and Dragon Balloon artists from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
I attended Community Days in 2014 and 2015. My kids had their faces painted, played ring toss games, jumped in the bouncy house, and colored pictures for the coloring contest. It was very family friendly. I hope you’ll have a chance to check it out.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!