If you need to peel and slice a peach for a pie or cobbler, there’s a relatively easy way to do it.

First, wash the fuzz off the outside of the peach. Then cut a small X in the bottom.

Now (carefully) put the peach in a medium-sized pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds.

If the peach is not very ripe, you can leave it in for a little longer than 30 seconds. Don’t leave it any longer than 1 minute. Remove it with a slotted spoon and immediately place in a bowl of ice water.

When the peach is cooled, take it out of the water and peel the skin off, starting at the X at the bottom. The skin should come off easily.

Using a sharp knife, cut the peach into 8 slices — cutting through the flesh to the pit but not through it. Once all the slices are cut, you should be able to pull them off and easily remove the pit.

You will still need to remove some of that red spiky part, but that’s it. Other than cleaning up the peach juice, that is.