The warm weather this past week has giving us a taste of summer, and despite the unusual bloom and rainy spring,  we can now find fresh, local peaches at our farmers markets.

Gayle Okumura Sullivan of Dry Creek Peach and Produce will be at the Healdsburg Farmer’s Market this Saturday with baskets of  first -harvest Rich May peaches.

The semi-freestone  is a traditional , yellow peach and a harbinger of the stonefruit harvest to come, including the  30 varieties of peaches planted at the Dry Creek Valley orchard. Looking ahead, the Dry Creek Peach and Produce store will open on July 1 at 2179 Yoakim Bridge Road. By then, we’ll all be complaining about the heat again … we hope.

Here is a recipe for Gayle’s favorite fresh peach pie:  

Fresh Dry Creek Peach Pie

Baked 9-inch single-crust pie

8 ounces cream cheese, set out to room temperature

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoons cornstarch

6 cups ripe firm peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced

Combine cream cheese and ½ cup sugar in a small bowl. Spread this mixture over base of baked and cooled pie crust. Place remaining sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, cornstarch and ½ cup peaches in a blender and blend together until smooth.

Toss sliced peaches with lemon juice and set aside. Pour blended ingredients into saucepan and heat over medium heat until slightly thickened. Add fresh peaches to coat. Let mixture cool. With slotted spoon, scoop up peaches and place in prepared pie crust. Cool in fridge for a few hours before serving.