Boil sugar and water together five minutes. Keep hot. You'll need 1 1/2 cups syrup for each quart of fruit. Wash and clean your peaches in warm water. Remove debris and discard overly ripe/excessively bruised peaches. You won't need to take too much time, as you will be just peeling the skins off anyway. Before dropping in boiling water slice each peach down one side from top to bottom.

Blanch peaches for no longer than 30 seconds. Remove from boiling water and place in cold/ice water. Skins should easily peel from fruit. The more ripe the fruit, the easier it will be to peel. If your fruit is firm you may need to peel with a knife or vegetable peeler.

Once skins are removed slice peaches in half and remove pit. I also like to take out the red area surrounding the pit because it is bitter. At this point you can leave the peaches in halves or you can quarter them. You'll want to avoid slicing them too thinly or they will easily become mushy during their shelf life once processed.

Transfer as many as you can fit without squishing them in to hot clean jars. Pour hot syrup over peaches leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary by adding more syrup. Wipe rim and center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process quart jars for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid. Place on towel on counter and do not disturb until cooled.