Peaches

By:   Carl Hanson

Peachy Keen

Their sweet, juicy flesh is delicious eaten fresh or baked in pies, cakes and pastries, poached in wine or syrup, or served in refreshing summer beverages.

The Dope on a Downy Drupe

A member of the rose family, the peach is a drupe fruit because of the hard pit, or stone, at its center. With freestone peaches, the pit falls away easily when the fruit is halved; clingstones require a little muscle to dislodge the pit.

Delicate Delicacy

Their skin and flesh are fragile and bruise easily. But their delicate nature is a great excuse to gobble them up fast -- in cobblers, over ice cream, in fruit salads, salsas and just straight from the hand.

Just Peachy

Georgia may be the Peach State, but California actually grows the most, producing about half the total U.S. crop. Peaches originated in China and spread west, helped along by ancient Greeks and Romans. Spaniards brought them to the New World.