Where are the best peaches grown? That’s a question that isn’t easily answered.

People from Georgia will insist their state produces the best peaches. After all, that’s the home of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, Ty Cobb, aka the Georgia Peach. Still others might say California, South Carolina, Washington or Texas.

My money is on those raised in Colorado, on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. And the reason is simple: I’ve never eaten a bad Colorado peach.

National Peach Pie was celebrated this past Wednesday (Aug. 24) and coincidentally, it was also the day on which a box of 20 Colorado peaches arrived at our house via FedEx.

The peaches were a gift to Therese and me from my brother, Kevin, who lives in Grand Junction, Colo., with his wife, Lynn. This is the second straight year he’s sent peaches from Alida’s, one of the premier fresh fruit producers in the Grand Valley, through which the Colorado River flows. I typically send him a few bags of Nut Goodie candy bars, which he can’t find there.

While the peaches came a little late in the day for Therese to make one of her mouth-watering pies forthwith, she did manage to artfully craft one Thursday. And was it ever good!

As usual, her homemade crust was out of this world, and adding some fresh Palisade peaches to mix was a match made in heaven.

I hope Kevin enjoys the Nut Goodies as much as we savored the pie.

Fresh Peach Pie
Dough for two 9-inch pie crusts
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
4½ cups sliced peeled peaches (6 to 8 whole peaches, depending on the size)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter
Prepare your pie crust so that the bottom crust is in the pan and in the refrigerator. The top crust can be resting in the refrigerator too, but don’t roll it out quite yet.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and the sliced peaches. Toss gently. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for one hour.
After an hour, place the peaches in a strainer over a saucepan, so that the juices can drain into the pan. Give them a gentle stir to ensure you’ve gotten as much of the liquid out of the mixture as possible. Place the peaches back in the large bowl and set to the side for the moment.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Add this mixture to the peach juice in the saucepan. Heat on medium-low on the stovetop, stirring constantly to keep the mixture from scorching or caramelizing. Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue stirring constantly for one minute. It should start to become rather thick. Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and butter; the butter should melt very rapidly.
Pour the hot mixture on top of the peaches and gently mix, so that the peaches are evenly coated with the mixture. It will be quite thick. Remove the bottom crust from the refrigerator. Spoon this mixture into the crust.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven preheats, roll out the remaining pastry. At this point, you can simply roll it into a circle and place it on top of the pie for a traditional double crust, adding several pricks with a fork to allow steam to vent.
Cover the edges loosely with foil.
Place the pie in the oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack for several hours before serving.