It is officially SUMMER!! And what is better this time of year than ice cream and fresh grown local peaches??
These past few weeks, here in South Carolina, we have been "treated" to true summer weather in the south. Everyday, it has been well over 90 degrees. Ugggg.... There is nothing more horrible than getting into your car at the end of the day and your car saying that it is 105 degrees. Some days, you can barely touch the steering wheel. At first, when I moved south in 1999 (from the frozen tundra of Pennsylvania), I thought that the heat was going to be the death of me. I remember several times gasping as I walked outside and telling friends that I could not breath. I was feeling as though the humidity was going to suffocate me. Since then, I have learned to look at the hot summer months more as a compromise for the temperate fall, winter and spring. Thinking now.... If given the option of shoveling 3 feet of snow in freezing cold conditions or sweating a little downtown while watching a band and having a cold beer on a Friday night- I choose that cold beer!
One of the jewels of this area is the great produce that we have in abundance. Whether you are a local Carolinian or a transplant like me, the one season that everyone looks forward to here is peach season. We follow the peaches from the first buds on the trees in very early spring, through every frost that might damage the crops, until the time we bring home our first basket of pure South Carolina goodness. Most people here await that first peach of the season because it is one of the true signs of summer. Lucky for us, this years peach crop has turned out to be prolific and we are loving every single bite!!
