I bought four peaches at the Farmers Market this Saturday, and was told by the vendor that I should leave them in the paper bag for "a couple of days" to ripen them. So, of course, I listened -- these are folks who know their produce, after all. And it's a good thing I did listen, because on Monday night the peaches had reached perfection.

The only problem with such a situation was this: what to do with them??? Bite into one and let the juice run down my chin? (Messy, but wonderful!) Make ice cream? (A supremely delicious notion, but not necessarily what I needed when Kroger is selling half-gallons of Breyer's for $2.77 this week and I had already succumbed to temptation and bought two cartons.) Bake a cake? (Already did that with plums a couple of weeks ago: "You Should Only Be Happy ... feeding the band before the really big show.") What other possibilities were there?

Gelatin. Not Jell-O, that neon-colored stuff to make Jigglers and shots out of; but gelatin -- beautiful homemade gelatin in sophisticated wine glasses, with pieces of my gorgeous peaches floating in it. I had made this once several years ago with berries, and it seemed like the ideal solution to my dilemma a) because it was easy, b) because it would be delicious, and c) because it wouldn't use up all four peaches, still leaving me with other options.

I have literally thousands of recipes at my disposal -- hundreds of my own concoctions, more than 90 cookbooks in my collection, folders full of slips torn from magazines and newspapers ... I'm a recipe-aholic. (My ex-husband always says that if I prepared a different recipe for each of three meals for each day of the week for an entire year, I still wouldn't be able to use up the supply!) But I knew exactly which one I intended to use: a variation on one I found in Cooking Light magazine years ago, Sparkling Fruit Gelees.

This dessert requires a bit more effort than boiling water and stirring ... but not much. It is well worth the minimal investment of time, and also worth the wait while the gelatin sets. This is a perfect dessert for a dinner party or a backyard barbecue, or just because it's summer and the peaches are in season. Really, does anyone need more of a reason than that ...?

Peach Gelatin

2-2/3 cup sparkling peach spumante (on the shelf with sparkling cider) or ginger ale 3-1/2 teaspoons plain gelatin 2/3 cup sugar juice of 1/4 lemon 2 large peaches, pitted, cut into 1/2" dice

Place 2/3 cup of the spumante into a small saucepan; sprinkle the gelatin on top and let sit for 5 minutes to soften. Turn the heat on to "low" and cook, stirring, until the gelatin has dissolved; remove from heat.

Place the sugar and another 2/3 cup of the spumante into another small saucepan; heat over "medium," stirring, until the sugar has dissolved; remove from heat. Stir in the remaining spumante, along with the gelatin mixture and the lemon juice.

Divide the gelatin mixture among 4 wine glasses. Divide the peaches among the wine glasses, and refrigerate until gelatin is set.

Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 50 cooking contests and writes about her adventures as she tries to win prizes, feeds hungry teenagers and other loved ones, and generally just has fun in the kitchen. The phrase "You Should Always Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured next to the blog's title) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15, and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here!