Fall needs to stop encroaching on Summer. Lately I’ve been thinking of Dylan Thomas’ poem, ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ and, specifically, it’s celebrated line, ‘Rage against the dying of the light.’ Although Thomas wrote the poem for his dying father, I can’t help but think how its words are also applicable to the shortening of Summer daylight, the shortening of Summer in general, and how we all should be raging against the growing trend of marketing Fall upon us all too soon.
It is increasingly difficult to maintain thoughts of Summer when my children returned to school in August 20th, Starbucks thinks it’s time to resume sipping Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Dollar Tree has already placed Halloween merchandise on their shelves. Despite the marketing ploys to prematurely thrust Fall on us, technically it IS still Summer and we should be celebrating all it has to offer.
Take peaches, for example. Since their availability is brief and coincides with late Summer, (or pre-Fall as I suspect this time of year will soon be called), Peaches are nature’s way of reminding us to slow down and savor them along with the rest of Summer. According to the National Agriculture Statistic Service, Pennsylvania produces sixty million pounds of peaches per year. Luckily for us, many are grown right here in Berks County so finding fresh ones isn’t difficult.
By this time of year I’m admittedly tired of peeling peaches as well as looking at pies so I thought I’d experiment with some other peach variation for dessert for our Sunday dinner. For us, slowing down and savoring Summer is primarily done on Sunday evenings because it’s the one evening we aren’t rushing to sports practice or incessantly working. We barbeque dinner, eat outside by candlelight, talk about the week ahead and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Summer as a family. It then occurred to me that setting dessert on fire would be a big hit and, as I had plenty of peaches on hand, Peach Flambe was the out-of-the ordinary dessert to fit the bill. Turns out it this was recipe was both fun to watch and delicious to eat.
Peach FlambeIngredients:3-4 peaches, cut into slices
4 tablespoons butter4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 of at least 80 proof alcohol (rum, brandy or bourbon)
Vanilla ice creamInstructions:In a saucepan melt the butter, sugar and cinnamon on medium heat. Add the peach slices and cook 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the alcohol to the mixture and make certain it is evenly distributed. With a long match or electronic lighter light the alcohol. Carefully. Wait until all of the alcohol is burned off. Spoon over ice cream and enjoy!
The one drawback of dining in my backyard each Sunday is the blatant reminder that yet another week has passed and my garden did not receive the desperate attention it needs. Perhaps I should pay a visit to Dollar Tree for some decorations and then the yard will be perfectly terrifying – just in time for Halloween.
Felicia Fisher is the founder of the Black Buggy Baking Company and lives in Oley, Pa. with her husband and three children who are all willing taste-testers.
For more information on what Felicia’s baking up visit her web page www.blackbuggybakingcompany.com or e-mail her at blackbuggybakingcompany@yahoo.com.
