CSA Basket Adventures - Fruit Pickles

What's a girl to do with 15 peaches all getting ripe at the same time?

Eat many, slice and freeze some for future smoothies and such, and of course - experimentation.

Fruit Pickles.

They add that something special to the morning yogurt and granola, and give you a little breathing room before the next wave of fruit comes at you.

Alton Brown showed it to me on his excellent show, "Good Eats", but I suspect this has a long and unsung history - well, maybe not that long, since these are refrigerator pickles.

The recipe he posts uses pears and plums.

I have had success with plums, peaches and apples. And instead of mint, lemon verbena and thyme have made their way in.

I used candied ginger, and cut down on the sugar a little - but here's the recipe I started with.

(I cannot claim this one - the basic recipe comes from The Food Network & FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients

1 Bartlett pear, thinly sliced

1 red plum, seeded and quartered

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, slivered

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1 sprig fresh mint

Directions

Place the pear, plum, lemon, and fresh ginger in a bowl. In a non-reactive saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and rice wine vinegar.

Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until sugar dissolves.

Place the fruit mixture into a spring-top glass jar and add the sprig of mint to the fruit. Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the fruit,

filling the jar to the top.

Cool the pickles, then refrigerate for 2 days up to 1 week before serving.

But start here - and innovate, innovate and experiment.