A Peachy Surprise!

This is the 2nd of the two posts in which I want to express my gratitude and sheer happiness to have the friends I have. A little over a month ago, I was painfully reading post after post of peach recipes. Why painful? Because here, in the Armpit Of The Midwest, a juicy, sweet and flavorful peach is almost unheard of. I know they've got to be out there, but they certainly aren't featured in any store I shop in. I always see the rock hard, dry and cardboard tasting variety. Ugh. So imagine how hard it was to get two peach pie submissions for La Festa al Fresco, you know that "virtual" party that Ivonne and I throw each year? Virtual meaning.. uhhh.. no real tasty tastes! Sure I've got a good imagination, but c'mon! I was being tortured! Well Chris of Mele Cotte, was one of my torturers, I mean that in the nicest way possible :P, when she submitted a recipe for Piled High Peach Pie. I'm pretty sure I broke down in her comments, all whiney and complaining about the peaches up here in Ohio. I probably *sob*'d a bit too, knowing me and my penchance for adding *actions* to get my point across. Can we all say, "Dork"? =) Wouldn't you know it a few days later Chris e-mailed me asking for my home address. She said she saw something that made her think of me and she wanted to send it along. I was curious and more than a lil excited when I wrote her back and asked, "Is he tall, dark and handsome???" ;) Well "life" butted in again soon after that exchange with Chris and by life, I mean my job, dealing with my Auntie and Alzheimer's and my Mom & a lil health scare (all is fine! Yay!) so any thoughts of Tall, Dark and Handsome, were pretty much crowded out. Until about a week or so after I received the quince from my sweet friend, Elle. Hubbs called me after he got home from work, AGAIN, to tell me that I had received a box from someone named Chris Asomething (he couldn't pronounce her last name teeee!). I squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'd in excitement and couldn't wait to get home to see what I got! And Ohhh my dear sweet Jebus, I was so not disappointed - laying on my kitchen table was a big box of.. yes, you guessed it - PEACHES! I don't think I've opened a box sealed with miles of tape so quickly - I couldn't wait to see them. And then there they were.. each one nestled in it's own cradle of foam, wrapped in pretty green tissue paper.. and the scent? Let's just say, if I could come up with an air freshener that was a cross between Quince and these peaches? I'd so blow Bill Gates outta the water in the next edition of Forbes. har! I ate one immediately and I couldn't believe how good it was. I believe these peaches came from Oregon (I'm thinking the prime peach season in Georgia was long gone) and all I could think of is if a true Georgia peach tasted even better than this Oregon peach, then I'd probably explode after tasting one. So juicy, so sweet and it tasted like A PEACH. I'll be damned. A peach that tastes like a peach. Who woulda thunk it? So without further ado, this is what I baked with my gorgeous peaches - the Piled High Peach pie - just like Chris! I wanted to take something special to my Auntie the next day when Mom and I visited her in the nursing home and I believe, although she's losing her memory at a rapid pace now - that it will be a long time before she forgets this pie.. it was phenomenal. The best peach pie I've ever had - and I believe it was because of the peaches and not so much the recipe. Thank you SO MUCH, Chris!! Not only did you make me one of the happiest peach-deprived people in alla world - but you made my Auntie very happy too. And each and every day she is happy means more to me than I could ever say. xoxo