Pickled-peach recipe has been preserved, too

Which is just what you'd expect from a recipe card for a well-loved family favorite.

Holmes grew up in Cheyenne, Wyo., eating those peaches.

Hardly a summer went by without his grandmother, Marie B. Holmes, pickling enough peaches to give to family and friends and still serve them through the winter.

Born on Sept. 19, 1907, she lived all 92 years of her life in Cheyenne. In her mid-20s, she married William Otis Holmes (for whom Tucsonan Bill Holmes is named), and they celebrated 70 years together.

"But not 71," Holmes says. "She died the following year."

Her death didn't dim her grandson's memories, however. Especially his memories of her pickled peaches.

Holmes, who is on staff at Pima Community College, isn't sure where the recipe originated. He just knows it was a family favorite.

"She made pickled peaches for all our family gatherings," he recalls.

She collected recipes, cutting them from newspapers and magazines and exchanging them with friends. Maybe her recipe came from the Foxville Extension Club, a homemakers group she helped found.

Marie had hundreds of recipes, all filed logically — according to her logic, that is — in boxes, folders and notebooks.

After her death, the family found all the recipes, but they never found a recipe for pickled peaches.

Fortunately, Holmes had one — otherwise the whole family would be out of luck.

He got it almost two decades ago when he was a young Army officer on leave from the Pentagon.

"Grandma," he told her, "I'd sure like the pickled peaches recipe. I never have been able to find one."

So she dictated it from memory, and he wrote it out in pencil on an index card.

Now he makes pickled peaches, maybe not in the quantity she did, but enough to have on hand when anyone in the family comes to visit in Tucson.

"They go really well with ham, turkey or pork roast," he says.

Holmes also serves them in the summer, as a salad. "They're best served chilled," he says.

The only difference between the pickled peaches he makes and the ones his grandmother made is that he uses canned fruit.

She used fresh peaches from the western slopes of Colorado, canning them whole in quart Mason jars.

"They were always peeled and perfect," he recalls. "Not a blemish on them."

Family favorites

Pickled Peaches

Yield: Six to eight servings

* 2 29-ounce cans of peach halves

* 3/4 cup sugar

* 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

* 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

* 1 tablespoon whole cloves

* 2 sticks cinnamon

Drain the peach juice into a large saucepan. Add sugar and the two vinegars to the juice, stirring to dissolve.

Bring to a boil and add the cloves and cinnamon sticks. Reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the peach halves and return to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Cool and refrigerate. These are best made one to three days before serving so the flavors can meld.