If you don't get some damn peaches you're dead to me

I love me a cold beer on a summer night (or day), but when it comes to hard alcohol, I’m a lightweight of the most pathetic sort. Which explains why, after a single slurp of my peach-vodka granita mixture (for recipe-testing purposes only), I had a very slight buzz on a Tuesday afternoon. I was quite ashamed of this, of course. But when the recipe Gods call, I must heed.

Making granita accomplished several things:

• I got to use some hard-won peaches. My friend Rosie and I recently decided that a hot humid day in mid-August would be a good time to push toddlers in strollers up a steep, rocky, quarter-mile hill in order to pick peaches at a local farm. Our friendship was tested when I almost gave up at the top of the hill, and Rosie gave me a sweaty and breathless ultimatum: “If you don’t get some damn peaches, you’re dead to me.”
• It allowed me to use some of the vodka that’s been taking up space in my freezer since I got it in a Yankee Swap many years ago.
• It made me seem much fancier than I really am because doesn’t granita just sound so gourmet and fabulous?
• It's an easy, thrown-together dessert/cocktail all rolled into one. Here's how easy it is.

Recipe: Peach-vodka granita

Serves two, but it doubles easily

1. Wait until your peaches are very, very ripe (right around the time a well-meaning houseguest might suggest that you put them in the refrigerator instead of keeping them on the counter).
2. Peel, pit, and blend 3 or 4 of them in the food processor, to yield about 1 ½ cups of peach puree.
3. Add ¼ cup of vodka (add more if you like more, or just leave it out), about 10 drops of bitters (a totally non-essential ingredient, but a nice touch if you happen to have them), and 1 tablespoon of honey. Give it another swirl in the food processor until everything’s nice and smooth.
4. Pour it into a plastic storage container, cover, and freeze it overnight.
5. To serve, scrape it with a fork to make a kind of thick slush and mound it up all pretty in a glass.
6. Garnish with a mint leaf (or maybe some candied ginger?) for guests or simply devour in your pajamas with the freezer door still open if you’re alone.