peaches!

"an apple is an excellent thing - until you have tried a peach." said george du maurier sometime before 1900. still so true. and peaches are at their peak right now. so many ripe, luscious juicy ones we have been eating. glorious. 

all this bounty can sometimes induce me into a bit of a panic though, no matter how firm i buy them, or in what stages of softness, they all seem to ripen at exactly the same time. the perfume in the kitchen is wonderful but and at certain points this summer there has been ripening fruit all over my kitchen: avocados, peaches, apricots, tomatoes. each imploring to be eaten right now. a bad case of fruit ripening panic. this generally calls for emergency fruit salad for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, and then maybe emergency guacamole for dinner. it would also be an excellent idea to keep some pastry dough in the freezer for emergency fruit tarts as well. these ripe peaches and stone fruits can be a quite an urgent matter. 

once, a long time ago, i was very happy to be in greece in august. for all over the city of athens fruit vendors with carts and in shops were selling giant peaches, peaches nearly as big as my head! these peaches were not only large in size but in flavor, texture, color, in every way. each morning i would head out early and buy one for breakfast. i would quickly head back to the flat with my treasure and devour it over the sink, slurping occasionally, in an attempt to prevent the abundant juice from pouring down my face (a lost cause, let me tell you). but such a lavish breakfast. true luxury. this marvelous ritual went on for a week until i took a boat to the islands. which were lovely of course. but alas, when i returned a month later, no more peaches, the season was over. i don't think i was ever so devastated, before, or since. 

so if you are like me, there may be some fruit ripening in your kitchen right now. it is probably delicious. do hurry, the season is all too short.