Fresh peach fritters

Peel the peach and cut the flesh off the pit, then squeeze the remainder for its juice.

Cut into half-inch pieces in the bowl so no juice is lost, to about one heaping cup.

Sprinkle with granulated sugar, mix thoroughly, cover and let sit at least 30 minutes until a peach syrup forms.

Add a few drops of vanilla, a little grated nutmeg, a very small touch of cinnamon, panko, and self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour with baking powder and a pinch of salt).

Stir; it looks dry at first and becomes a sticky, then looser bubbly batter after one to two minutes of stirring.

Let the batter sit 3 to 4 minutes while the oil heats.

Drop rounded tablespoons into oil at 375F, checking they do not stick together.

Fry about a minute and a half, flip, fry the second side a minute and a half, dunking them under the oil.

Flip once more and fry one more minute, about four minutes in all.

Lift out, shake, drain a few seconds and cool on a rack to just warm.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle with bourbon simple syrup (bourbon, water and sugar boiled and cooled) or toss in sugar or cinnamon sugar, and garnish with mint.

Variation: with frozen peaches, thaw, cut and macerate the same way; with canned peaches, cut to size and add about three or four tablespoons of their syrup.