Brandied Peaches

I do not take any credit for this recipe.  I followed it exactly as it was posted at Food & Wine...  The only thing I did was divide the recipe by 4.  The original recipe makes two quarts, and I only wanted 2 pints.  (2 pints = 1 quart / See, my time working at Baskin-Robbins all those years ago was well-spent.)

We had so many peaches, and I was looking to preserve some so that they did not go bad...  I also have a lot of brandy in the house, since I haven't made my sangria all summer.

Which totally reminds me that my sangria is the most amazing sangria in the world.  Why haven't I made my sangria this year???  Moving on, while making a mental note to also bring all sangria-making-instruments on vacation with us...

If you are new to canning, you will not realize that you need to sterilize your jars, lids, and rings.  You can either heat up a pot of water to just under boiling and keep them in it until you are ready go to...  Or, you can use the "sanitize" cycle on your dishwasher if you have one...  Just FYI - the recipe didn't say this, but you need sterile jars.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds peaches
3/4 c water
1 c sugar
1 c brandy

Instructions
Bring a pot of water to a boil over very high heat.  Drop in whole pieces for about 30 seconds, and then remove to a bowl or baking dish.  Let cool just enough to peel the skin off the peaches.  It comes over very easy at that point, and then you can halve them and pull out the pits.  I actually cut them in quarters, because my peaches were kind of large...

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan over medium high heat, and allow to reduce for about 5 minutes after it comes to a boil.

Add the peaches to the boiling syrup, and bring the peaches to a boil in the syrup.  As soon as you've reached boiling, use a slotted spoon to remove the peaches to your jars.  (This quantity will yield 2 pints.)

Then, add the brandy to your syrup and again return to a boil.  When the brandy syrup is boiling, use a ladle to fill your peach jars up with the brandy syrup.  Then, use a wet rag to clean the tops of your jars and add the lids and rings.  Allow to cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Brandied peaches are good for three months in the refrigerator.

I'll update the comments with my feedback on flavor after vacation!  :)