Brandied Peaches

The Wino is health conscious. She likes to eat fruit. Fruit is healthy—all filled with vitamins, fiber, and crap like that. It will come as no surprise to you, fellow boozers, that The Wino especially likes fruit cured in booze.

The Wino's Brandied Peaches
4 Cups Brandy
2 Cups Sugar
2-4 lbs fresh, slightly under-ripe peaches (or however many it takes to fill three, one-quart canning jars), pitted and sliced into eighths.

Dissolve the sugar in the brandy (stir prudently boozers!). Lightly pack jars with peach slices. Pour brandy-sugar mixture into jars until peach slices are just covered. If you are feeling super-awesome, The Wino suggests adding a slice of lemon to each jar for a hint of cheery brightness. (That's right, The Wino said, "cheery brightness." Deal with it.) Let the peaches macerate for 6 weeks in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions: If one is not drinking wine, The Wino would like to encourage her obsessed readers to try a brandied peach in a Manhattan cocktail instead of the usual maraschino cherry. In summer, add 1/2 cup peach brandy to two bottles Pino Grigio wine with 12 halved and pitted Bing cherries, one sliced peach, one sliced lemon, and one sliced orange for simply the best sangria ever (serve over lots of ice and garnish with mint). Or, serve the brandied peaches over vanilla cake and top with whipped cream.

This recipe is best executed while drinking a few glasses of El Chaparral, De Vega Sindoa, Old Vine Garnacha.

Cheers!

P.S. And if you are wondering where The Wino came up with this brilliant recipe, she is willing to admit that she modified it from one she read for brandied cherries on the Sauveur.com Web site.