What’s New on Pinterest

Peachy Keen! August is National Peach Month. Hard to beat a sun-kissed ripe peach, unless the blushing stone fruit is in our new crop of peachy recipes. Summer peach and balsamic pizza; caramelized peach caprese salad with smoked sea salt; basil, bacon and peach baked brie; and grilled pork porterhouse with peach agrodolce lend themselves well to entertaining. Paleo peach coconut smoothies, five-minute healthy peach frozen yogurt and peach margaritas send peachy keen chills down our spines. Peaches? Yep, we’re plum crazy about them.

What’s New on Pinterest

National Vanilla Milkshake Day is Saturday, June 20. Ask yourself, why stop at vanilla? Exactly. We couldn’t either, so we’ve blended a frosty board of frozen delights for all ages: sweet with bubblegum or Little Debbies; boozy with beer or bourbon chocolate; patriotic red, white and blue or apple pie; novelties like wedding cake shakes and Cookie Monsters for kiddies or adults. Georgia peach? You know it. Hit the on switch with us and Shake it like a Polaroid picture.

Appetizing Aperture

Lunch with Mark Twain. The Southern Gentleman is his usual Atlanta lunch spot -- his larger-than-life portrait watches over the lunch crowd at the gastropub on Buckhead Atlanta’s top floor. Bet he’s wishing he could jump out of the canvas for modern versions of Southern beloveds such as this Low Country shrimp boil with spiced andouille sausage, corn on the cob, sweet onions and fingerling potatoes ($16). He’s so jealous of y’all, sipping classic Southern cocktails by the seersucker-curtained windows and lunching there Monday through Sunday on pimento beer cheese and cracklings, field lettuces with crispy black-eyed peas and grilled peaches, lacquered Virginia duck breast or crispy fried shrimp and oysters on a baguette with house-made hot sauce. Fiction? No, siree. Delicious reality, every day.

Appetizing Aperture: Watsonia Farms Peaches

                                                                    Credit: Jack Deese

There’s no better season than peach season at Watsonia Farms! Here peaches are the main crop and cover 900 acres on the farm located in Monetta, S.C. If your summer road trips take you to Monetta or Gilbert, S.C., stop by the Watsonia Farm store. Not to fret you Georgia peach lovers, you can grab a handful of Watsonia Farms peaches at local farmers markets like the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. 

Life is Just Peachy! Celebrate National Peach Month with our Peachy Keen Pinterest Board

 

National Peach Month has us feeling extra peachy! Our Peachy Keen Pinterest board is the perfect place to pick recipes for maximizing these luscious stone fruits. Quaff down a peach old-fashioned cocktail. To eat, try peach, prosciutto and ricotta crostini; peach and brie quesadillas with lime-honey dipping sauce; and cornbread shortcake with ham and fresh peach salsa. Skip to dessert? Try our variations on peach ice cream and peach pie themes.

Appetizing Aperture: Picture Perfect Watsonia Peaches

Summer time is the right time for peaches, and these little beauties are as photogenic as can be. This photo from Watsonia Farms, our neighbors just across the border in South Carolina, has us chomping at the bit to get to those pits. Be sure to check out our Peachy Keen Pinterest board for some sweet ideas for your next batch of Watsonia peaches!

Peachy Top of "the Ridge" View Gives Watsonia Farms Peaches the Best Flavor

 

Whole-y terroir? The unique combination of earth and air qualities is considered when growing the best grapes for wine production, and it also has a place in peach orchard selection. Watsonia Farms rolls across an elevated terrain affectionately called "the Ridge" by local farmers. The agricultural region rises up along the Savannah River north of Augusta and spreads eastward along the fall line from the piedmont of upstate South Carolina to the coastal plain. Perhaps Joe H. Watson had a peachy premonition about the land when, back in 1918, he purchased the first parcel of what would be Watsonia Farms and began planting peaches in 1925. Sweet nectar. Today, Joe's great-grandson Jeph Watson continues the peach orchard tradition along "the Ridge." The peach buzz is that the four counties spanning this area of South Carolina produce more peaches than the entire Peach State of Georgia! If you're traveling through the South Carolina midlands, stop in at one of Watsonia Farms' two stores for farm-fresh fruit, produce and fruit products.

Peachy Pinterest Picks

It's been a long wait, but everything is peachy on Pinterest these days and we couldn't be happier. Peaches are hitting the stands at markets and produce departments across the region, and we've been filling our bags with these sweet Southern treats. We've pinned some perfect peach ideas for you to try with your fresh batch: Georgia peach pound cake, grilled peaches, peach margaritas, peach ice cream, peach mango pops and cornbread shortcake with ham and fresh peach salsa. Power to the peaches!

It's Peach (Daiquiri) Season

Planning a little get-together for the 3-day weekend? We have the perfect drink! Celebrate peach season with a delicious peach daiquiri using organic peaches from Watsonia Farms (because they are the first to have them!). Get them at your local farmers market and use this recipe courtesy of Rebecca Lang's  book “Quick-Fix Southern,”  You'll probably want to get enough for two batches!

“Quick-Fix Southern” Peach Daiquiris

Serves 4 to 6

6 medium peaches or 3 cups frozen peaches, thawed

1/2 cup peach nectar

4 1/2 cups ice

1/2 to 3/4 cup rum

Peel and coarsely chop the peaches and place them in a blender. Add about two tablespoons of nectar. Blend until the peaches are completely puréed.

Add the ice and blend until all of it is crushed. Add the remaining six tablespoons of nectar and the rum and blend to mix. Serve in large wine glasses.

MLA Taste and Tell - Reach for a Peach Before They're All Gone

MLA's Administrative Assistant Shelby had such a hankering for sweet Georgia peaches that she drove two hours south of Atlanta to Dickey Farms in Musella to pick up a few pounds of the tree-fresh fruit. We don't think they had to twist her arm much to get her to try the peach pecan preserves, peach butter, homemade peach ice cream and other peachy-keen treats. Watch her YouTube Taste and Tell and peach out.

What's New on Pinterest: Peachy Keen

Coming back from the beach, you purchased a big basket of blushing peaches at a roadside stand. They're going to be delish, and they're going to ripen in unison. Peachy keen Pinterest posts are the pick of the crop for ways to make the most of your haul.

Have a Peachy Month!

Spice Route Supper Club's Peach Chutney

If you haven't bitten into a sweet, juicy Georgia peach yet this summer, then put down the mouse and head to your nearest farm stand or favorite restaurant. It's National Peach Month in the Peach State, for goodness sakes!

As you might have guessed, we even have a handy list for you, plus a recipe. Enjoy!

Spice Market in the W Atlanta-Midtown is incorporating the luscious fruit into a roasted peach financier with peach and shiso salad and ginger ice cream for a cool $7. (In the W Atlanta-Midtown, 188 14th Street, NE; 404-724-2550)

Smashburger crushes the juicy fruits into peach BBQ sauce for its Atlanta burger, which is dolled up with Wicked® Pimena cheese, grilled jalapeños and Vidalia coleslaw on an egg bun. Regular Smash is $5.99 and $6.99 for the Big Smash. Buckheaders are good to go at their Smashburger and things will be peachy for Johns Creek residents when their neighborhood Smashburger opens August 10. (Buckhead: 2625 Piedmont Road, NE; 404-237-2374. Johns Creek: 9775 Medlock Bridge Road; 770-497-6274.)

JCT. Kitchen & Bar dresses up the house-smoked pork chop with potato purée, Vidalia onion and grilled peaches for $26. (In Atlanta's Westside Urban Market at 1198 Howell Mill Road; 404-355-2252)

Asha Gomez of Spice Route Supper Club and soon-to-open Cardamom Hill embraces Georgia peaches and works them into her flavorful Kerala, India cuisine. One of her favorite ways to use them is to make peach chutney (inspired by the flavors of Kerala):

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. fresh Georgia peaches (cored and cut into bite-size pieces)
• 20 white pearl onions
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon ginger (julienned)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 star anise
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil

Directions:

• Sauté pearl onions, ginger in the coconut oil until they are golden brown
• Add bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, paprika, salt and sugar and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Add the peaches and cook for 5 minutes.
• Serve with grilled chicken or grilled fish.

Peachy Keen Pie

If the rain is keeping you in tonight, be sure to tune in to "United Tastes of America" on the Cooking Channel at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time to check out JCT. Kitchen & Bar Owner/Executive Chef Ford Fry's fried pie skills! On this all-about-pie episode, Chef Fry will be dishing up a Southern comfort food classic - peach fried pies. If your mouth gets to watering while watching, you can always stop by JCT for the current pie special, Georgia apple fried pies with butter pecan ice cream!

It's Follow Friday; Meet Our Tweep of the Week @PeachPromise

Don't know about you, but we'd rather our peaches take their own sweet time getting juicy and ripe in orchards than resting on trucks blazing across the lower 48.  After all, Georgia is the "Peach State."  Join the bushels of Georgians who are making the Georgia Peach Promise this summer, pledging to purchase Georgia peaches instead of those from other states.  

Peachy-keen Georgians can learn more on the Georgia Peach Commission's Twitter page, website or by becoming a fan of "Georgia Peaches" on Facebook. Then click your pick of recipes, storage tips and other info bites on our state's official fruit!