Peachy Pizza

Peachy Pizza
Dorcas Annette Walker

In the orchard my plum trees and pear tree branches hang heavy with ripening fruit nearly touching the ground. Last week I picked wild blackberries and made up a dozen pints of blackberry jam. Soon my house will hold the aroma of cooking plum jam and another pantry shelf will fill with a new color adding to the existing rainbow of canned goods. In case you haven’t figured out by now I’m rather proud of my pantry. My grandmother stored all her canned stuff in her basement on rows of shelves. For years I dreamed of a pantry as I stored boxes of canned produce throughout the house under beds; tomatoes were in my daughter’s room while the green beans resided under my son’s bed.

Finally the day came when my husband lined the walls of the small room next to my kitchen (originally Dwight’s bedroom) with shelves. I involved the entire family in helping me put my canned harvest on the shelves dithering over whether to organize by vegetables and fruits or color. Even though my family was used to my wild flights of fancy, they soon began shifting impatiently and rolling their eyes over my intense concentration of where each item should go. We’d fill a couple of shelves only for me to change my mind and want to switch the jars around. My kids soon disappeared convinced that I had gone off the deep end for good while my husband tried to reason with me that the point of building all the shelves was for me to fill them not to dither over where food product went. Today any visitor is treated to a tour of my pantry whether they are interested in foodstuff or not. In my mind I can’t understand how anyone cannot appreciate the vivid colors of my pantry. Now that Dawn is married and stores her canned goods under her beds she is an avid admirer of my pantry.

While there are fresh peaches still to be had my Peachy Pizza is a perfect summer dessert, although you can use canned or frozen peaches year round. The Peachy Pizza is lush and filling starting with a sugar cookie crust, topped by a creamy cheese filling, and finishing off with sliced peaches in a clear glaze. For a softer crust leave sit overnight. Preparation time for my Peachy Pizza is around thirty minutes (not counting cooling time) and this recipe serves twelve.

Peachy Pizza

2 c self-rising flour
1 stick of margarine
1 c sugar
½ c chopped pecans
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
½ c powdered sugar
1 (8 oz) cool whip
1 (3 oz) peach jello
1 c water
4 tb cornstarch
4 c sliced peaches

In a small bowl mix together flour, margarine, half a cup of sugar, and pecans to form a dough. Spread on a pizza pan and bake at 350º for fifteen minutes. Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. In a small pan mix together jello, rest of the sugar, water and cornstarch. Bring to a boil and cook until clear. Fold in the sliced peaches and let cool before spreading on top of the filling. Chill the pizza before serving. Garnish with cool whip and a slice of peach!

Weekly tip: Peaches are best eaten fresh within days of being picked. Otherwise store peaches in the refrigerator for up to a week then can, dry, or freeze for long-term storage!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com