When the The Peach Truck visited town the second time, my friend Linda called and asked if I wanted any peaches. Since, the truck was in town during working hours, she knew I wouldn’t be able to get any on my own.

I told her I did and planned to drop by her house when I got off work to pick them up. It wasn’t long before I got a call from Linda that she was headed my way with the peaches. I told her she didn’t have to do that, but she insisted. That’s what good friends are for.

There sure are a lot of peaches in a half bushel. I made homemade peach ice cream (again), peach scones and peach lemonade. I sliced them over my cereal, and so we could just eat them.

As the peaches continued to ripen, I had to figure out what else I was going to do with them.

Making cobbler or freezing them was always an option, but one day, I ran across this recipe and knew it was something I had to try.

I had never thought about using peaches in a main dish before, but this recipe I found at cookingclassy.com does just that.

The recipe calls for four chicken breasts, but my package only had three in it. I only buy purple onions now (Brad prefers those after reading the book “Forks over Knives”) and they worked fine in this recipe.

I used petite diced tomatoes. See, I’m not a big tomato fan, but I will eat them cooked in stuff, but I prefer smaller chunks. 

I decided I probably should buy some fresh basil instead of using dried in this recipe since it was going to be used as a garnish. Gotta have that pretty visual appeal ya’ know. Since I don’t grow my own herbs, I picked up some basil at the grocery on the day I was going to try this recipe.

After work I changed my clothes and headed to the kitchen. I got all of the ingredients I would need ready. After cleaning the chicken, slicing the onion, mincing the garlic, peeling and slicing the peaches, draining the diced tomatoes and cutting the basil into thin strips, I was ready to get started.

Everything I needed was assembled on the counter and I started putting this dish together. I was able to get things going fairly quickly and everything was going great.

When it came time to add the balsamic vinegar, I opened the bottle and tried to pour some out. It would barely drip out. I don’t use much balsamic vinegar, but I figured out real quick that it shouldn’t be that thick.

I put the bottle aside and looked in the cabinet to see if I had any more. Sure enough, I did. I have no idea why we had two bottles of this in the cabinet, especially since I rarely use it, but I was glad.

Brad came home and asked “How much time do I have before supper?” I told him probably 30 minutes, and he said he wanted to get some things done before we ate.

I finished cooking the chicken and continued on with the recipe. About the time I was putting the chicken back into the pan to finish cooking, Brad said, “I’m heading out to get the mower.” I told him supper was almost ready, and reminded him, “When you asked how much time you had, I meant you had about 30 minutes from right then, not from the time you go outside.”

He assured me he would be right back.

When the dish was ready, Brad was not back in the house. I turned the burners down on everything we were having and waited, and waited.

Finally, he got back to the house and let me know he was having trouble with the mower. He washed his hands, helped me get supper on the table, said a prayer and we served ourselves.

The chicken dish looked pretty and it tasted good. Since I didn’t use the recommended amount of chicken, the ratio of peaches to chicken was a little off, but that didn’t bother us at all.

The only complaint either of us had was that the chicken was too done and was a bit tough. I guess that was due to trying to keep it warm while Brad was outside, so yes, it was all his fault. 

I nailed this recipe and will definitely make it again when I have fresh peaches, but next time, we’ll eat as soon as it’s ready.

The Peach Truck won’t be back until next year, but you might be able to find fresh peaches at the farmers’ market or at Beech Springs Farm Market (they participate in the farmers’ market on Saturdays). I highly recommend you check them out.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.