Peach Season ... Ripen Already!

My dad LOVES peaches.  They are his very favorite.  Every Father's Day, I aim to have some tasty dessert that includes his beloved peaches.  The weekend before, I bought fresh peaches from my farmer's market.  Based on my previous experience with the fruit, I didn't want to select ones that were well on their way to being ready as I had a week to go.  So, I selected sweet smelling semi-hard ones.  They should be ready by the following weekend....

Just like everything else in life one tries to anticipate, timing the ripening process is not always going to meet expectation.  If you think about it, we try to rush almost everything we do these days.  Whether it's drying clothes, getting correspondence to someone faster or gaining an immediate understanding why something has happened if you believe everything happens for a reason.

While we may have time savings and efficiencies, the outcome may not be what was intended.  By hurrying drying, you incur tangible bills to pay for the privilege of drying those clothes quickly.  By hitting send the moment a thought pops into your head, you may miss all that may be "read" into that correspondence because you didn't contemplate how the reader may interpret it.   Or you could experience shortsightedness for not letting time marinate your thoughts before drawing conclusions.

In the case of the ripening of my peaches, by Tuesday they were still hard.  Fortunately, my mom reminded me of the paper bag trick.

Tip:  Ripening happens as the fruit's natural hormone, ethylene, is released.  By trapping the gas in a paper bag, the ripening process happens more quickly while still allowing a bit of ventilation.  

Luckily the paper bag trick hastened the ripening.  But by Friday I was still wondering if that would be the case.  These peaches were going to ripen in their own time, as nature intended.   By Saturday, they were perfect.  Their raw taste ... sublime, so sweet.

With a bit of previous experience, a little trickery and an inspiration from a Sangria Compote recipe, we enjoyed our Father's Day ice cream treat.  Want to make your own?
The Sangria Compote Recipe