{ice cold peach pops}

My Kindle has been keeping me up too late again. That device is genius. I never thought I'd embrace reading on something so uniform, so rechargeable, so lacking the nostalgia of a nicely worn paperback. Au contraire. I devour books on my Kindle. 

Lately, I've been savoring Wendy Mogel's inspired parenting blueprint The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children. I'm not Jewish, but I am a parent and despite some hesitations I have regarding organized religion in general, I appreciate the framework religious teachings can provide as tools to navigate life. Mogel's approach is heavily laden in Jewish tradition -- I'm learning more Hebrew from this one book than I ever did from decades of friendship with a hardcore member of "The Tribe." Yet she offers simple and very relevant advice for parents of any spiritual persuasion -- our goal as parents being to raise confident, respectful and self-reliant little people. 

Well, of course. I have to say that I got a good chuckle when she referenced the Fifth Commandment: "Honor Your Father and Your Mother, So That Your Days May Be Long..." Translation in our household: "Do as I say or else you get a time out." Who knew Sunday School curriculum included parenting tactics? I guess that's sort of the point.

Free will and our forefathers enable each of us to choose which set of rules we live by, and for that I'm thankful (both for the freedom and the rules). It seems when we relax our rules too much is when we find ourselves in trouble. Democratization of the household. Crowded feedlots and factory farming. Tasteless, mealy produce.

You may be familiar with Michael Pollan's Food Rules-- a book full of entertaining and enlightening guidelines for the modern omnivore. Pollan's predominant rule, and one of my favorites: "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants" is pretty much how we eat in this house. While Food Rules is a great read, I've noticed one serious omission: "Thou shalt only eat peaches straight from the farm." Seriously. Farm fresh peaches (from your CSA or farmers market) are ripened on the tree and taste like a completely different product than that which you might find in the grocery store. Ideally you want your peaches plucked from the branches and consumed within a day or two. I'm not aware of a large scale grocer that can accomplish this feat. However you eat them, enjoy them while they are here. Vanilla Peach Pops are an easy way to mix it up and savor the pile of peaches in our CSA. 

{peaches. as they are meant to be}

3/4 cup low fat plain yogurt

2 cups sliced fresh peaches (about 4 medium peaches)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tb fresh lemon juice

3 Tb agave nectar

:: Combine ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. 

:: Pour into popsicle molds of your choice. Freeze overnight. 

Makes 6-10 popsicles, depending on size.