Being a northern girl, I didn’t grow up eating a lot of peaches. We had cherry trees and apples and lots of berries, but we were weak on peaches. Cherries have always been my favorite fruit, and I have always dreamed of having an orchard full of them. When we first moved to the south, I went to the local nursery and asked a gardener there if I could look at their fruit bearing cherry trees.
“We’re all sold out of cherry trees ma’am,” he said in his friendly drawl. “They sell out quick this time of year.”
“Oh,” I said, “So they grow well around here?”
“Nope,” he replied.

Though disappointed, I thought to myself, “when in Rome,” and bought some peach trees.

Those trees haven’t been too successful either, but there are always plenty of good peaches for sale this time of year, and this is one of our favorite (and easiest) ways to eat them. Grilled!

We have actually never owned a grill in our twelve years of marriage until this last labor day when the hubby found this itty-bitty table top grill on sale and brought it home. Up until labor day, I had been happy to grill peaches on my cuisinart griddler, but I must admit they are much tastier over charcoal.

It’s handy too because you can grill and eat your dinner, and then just throw halved peaches on there after the coals have cooled a bit.

It’s hard to say how long they take- between five and ten minutes. Just check them occasionally, flipping them once. They should be just the slightest bit black, and soft without falling apart.

While they are cooking, you can decide what to serve on top. Vanilla ice cream certainly works, or whipped cream, but our hand down favorite is my imitation crème fraiche. I know I talk a lot about the foreign things I have in my fridge, but I can’t afford to keep real crème fraiche on hand, so I have learned to substitute. The closest thing we have to crème fraiche in the U.S. is sour cream, but according to the hubby, it’s not quite right. So what do we do around here to fix things? Add cream of course! I told you we add cream to everything, even if it’s cream.

I’m not a big fan of measuring things, so I usually just put a big glop of sour cream in a bowl (maybe a cup?) and pour enough heavy cream to cover it. Oh, and just a hint of sugar, maybe 2 tablespoons. (That’s raw sugar, in case you are wondering why it’s brown)

Then just whip it up until it’s nice and thick and creamy. Let me tell you, this stuff is good.

Put a nice dollop on each peach half. You could leave it like this, but I find that what really puts these over the top is a sprinkling of nutmeg, fresh ground if you can manage it.

And there you have it. A super easy summertime dessert that I just realized I am posting on the first day of autumn.

Ah well, better late than never.