Peachy Keen Peaches 'n' Cream

As I may have mentioned before, when I was growing up, every summer contained a particular day of joy. It involved lots of ice cream pails, but no ice cream :-) It was strawberry-picking day, at a u-pick farm nearby. First, came the pain: getting up before 6 on a summer morning, so we could be there when the farm opened, as early in the season as possible. Then, when we were trucked out to our very own back-bending row, Mom and hungry children each took our requisite set of ice cream pails (the hefty 5 quart ones, not the cheater 4 quart-ers) and started digging through the shin-high green to discover ripe, juicy, glistening strawberries hiding underneath.

When at least 10-12 ice cream buckets were filled, we took them back to be weighed. (luckily they didn't weigh US before and after!) I was always impressed with my mom's patented method of carrying so many buckets: putting them on the handle of a hoe or rake and carrying 6-8 at a time. Then, we'd get home, and spend the rest of the day rinsing and hulling berries to make at least one strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream topping, a seemingly endless supply of strawberry jam for the year, and any other strawberry product we could think of. The following week was hence known as "The Week of the Strawberry" in which strawberries were inserted into every possible dish possible. In other words, a week of heaven :-)

Though I have looked high and low, no such strawberry-picking venue exists in Arizona, as near as I can tell. While I try to make do with making jam with store strawberries, it's not the same. However, I do have the luxury of having a u-pick peach/apricot farm about 60 miles away. It's a long drive, but it's totally worth it. The heavenly scent of peaches heavy in the air, and children running around with peach juice dripping sweetly down their chins (and mine) are a lovely setting. Therefore, every year I come home with at least 20 pounds of peaches and freeze them for smoothies, pie, and of course, jam. After some...less than ideal peach jam attempts in the past, I was thrilled to make an excellent jam this year. My next peach dish was an excellent version of peaches and cream from Allrecipes. (That's also where the photo is from.) Hopefully, you have some peaches around to try this simple, yummy dessert.

Grilled Peaches & Cream

4 peaches, halved and pitted
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. soft cream cheese with honey and nuts (or mix plain cream cheese with 2-3 T. honey, and 1/4 c. chopped nuts)
2 T. honey

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Brush cut side of peaches with a light coating of vegetable oil. Grill them, cut side down, for 5 minutes, or until peaches have nice grill marks. Flip peaches over and place a dollop of cream cheese in the center hole of each peach. Grill for 2-3 minutes more (cut side up) until cream cheese is warm. Serve on a plate. Drizzle honey on peaches and plate and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.