Route 25 in South Carolina grows a lot of fruit and, it seems, a bumper crop of fireworks as well. On the way to Asheville, I spied a number of small stands. On the way back, I stopped at one of them for some fruit. As you can see, peaches were the highlight. They also carried some tomatoes, blueberries, and blackberries, as well as some preserves and pickles. As I was busy studying the peaches, a man stopped by to ask the owner if she needed any blueberries---you can't get much fresher than that. I left with a basket of beautiful peaches, including the basket, and a quart of blackberries. The blackberries will go into a cobbler for breakfast in the morning. Some of the peaches are destined for the freezer as filling for winter peach pies. I will probably succumb to habit and make another batch or two of preserves, too.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...

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