how to store peaches…

Meet the “Golden Girls,” a variety of peach I picked up at the farmers market last week. I just love it when produce has fun names, like “Golden Girl” and “Sugar Lips,” which are two varieties of peaches that I’ve purchased recently at the Santa Monica farmers market. “May Fire” is the name of a great nectarine I picked up a couple of weeks ago, and “Flavorella” is a variety of apricot I simply cannot get enough of.

But what is the best way to store these delicious treasures?

“In the fridge,” is the answer you’ll most often get when you ask a farmer directly. The cool air will keep the fruit from getting too soft or rotting prematurely. Of course, if you plan to enjoy your peach or nectarine on the same day you buy it, by all means, arrange them in a pretty bowl and enjoy the view!

However, when I bought these “Golden Girls,” I had plans to turn them into a crumble but not until I had more time to bake over the weekend. If you look closely, you’ll see that this variety has a pointy top…bottom, actually…in the picture, they are laying on the stem end so that the top is pointing up. I wanted to preserve and respect their shape, and keep them as firm and bruise-free as possible before using them in a recipe. I stored them in a single layer in the fridge but instead of using a bowl, I pulled out the pretty baking dish that I planned to bake them in. Not only did the baking dish protect them from bruising and crushing each other, the pretty dish added a little fun and colorful inspiration to my fridge.

It’s nice to be greeted by “Golden Girls” every time you open up the fridge, a delicious reminder of a sweet summer treat that will be making an appearance on the dinner table in just a few days’ time…