We're off book folks....

They had the German cherry pitter, and it works quite well actually.  The hopper kinda stacks up, so you can gently roll the cherries through, but I have to imagine that it works so much better than picking up a cherry, pitting a cherry, pulling the cherry off the pitter and picking up the next cherry.  We were able to process 36#'s of fruit with relative ease.

I know, crazy huh?  I thought that one box of cherries would not quite be enough, so I bought two.  And actually, I'm glad. If this is not the last week the cherries will be available, then it's darn close. 

We spent two afternoons making up jam.  Saturday was Plain Cherry Jane and "Bing" Cherry Jam with spices and Amaretto.  Sunday, we went off book (Ball Blue Book) and started going crazy.  We made Blue-Cherry-Berry, Cherry Marmalade, Cherry-Strawberry, Cherry Vanilla, and Cherry Conserve(Compote?).  All quite yummy, although I think the Cherry-Strawberry and Cherry Vanilla are my favorites.  The Cherry-Strawberry is full of that jammy fruit flavor you read about in your wine tasting notes.  We liked it so much, I actually put aside cherries in the freezer so we can make some more when I get strawberries.  The Cherry Vanilla tastes kinda like the way good pipe tobacco smoke smells.  I think it's going to be great over vanilla ice cream, or maybe as a glaze on some really good meat - duck perhaps?

2010 Jam Plans include:  Strawberry (1 1/2 flats of fruit), Plum (1 box of fruit), and Meyer Lemon Marmalade (whatever is left on the trees!).

I need to preserve (groan!) the recipes for future episodes of "Little Cabin in the Woods", so measurements and notes as follows.

Cherry-Strawberry makes 6.5 half pints

• 2 1/2 c chopped, pitted cherries
• 2 c chopped strawberries
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 3 1/2 c sugar
• 1 pkg powdered pectin (next time use the low-sugar version)

Cherry Marmalade makes 7 half pints

• 4 c chopped, pitted cherries
• 1 med orange, chopped and seeded (peel included)
• 2 T lemon juice
• Sugar (tbd)
• 1 pkg powdered pectin

Blue-Cherry-Berry makes 8 half pints

• 2 c blueberries
• 2 c chopped pitted cherries  (change to 1 c blueberry, 3 c cherry)
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 6 1/4 c sugar
• 2 pkgs liquid pectin

Cherry Vanilla makes 7 half-pints

• 4 c chopped, pitted cherries
• 1/4 c Amaretto (altho you don't taste it, I think it supports the vanilla bean)
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped but whole pod cooked in
• 4 c sugar
• 1 pkg powdered pectin (change to low sugar pectin next time)

Cherry Pecan Conserve (Compote?) makes 10 half pints

• 4 c chopped, pitted cherries
• 1 c chopped strawberries
• 1 med orange, chopped and seeded (peel included)
• 1 pkg powdered pectin
• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 4 c sugar
• bring the above to a boil then add:
• 1 c chopped pecans
• 1 c raisins
• 1 pkg liquid pectin

When it's Peach Pickin' time in CA....

Then it's jam making time for me.

This weekend Mark went with me to the Farmer's Market in Santa Cruz.  Well, really, it's a flea market with a selection of farm stands included, and the primary reason we go is to hit the farm stands.  I have impulse issues - when I see all the pretty colors and the yumminess that is summer fruits and veggies, I forget how much the two of us actually eat and end up buying enough for a compost pile as well.  So Mark's job was to keep me in check - don't overbuy, just enough for the coming week.  I know I have an issue (potential!), and this system works for us - most of the time.  Until a certain someone, overcome with the sweet perfume of ripe peaches in a warm tent on a summer weekend, decides that yes, we can deal with over 50 #'s of fruit for a steal of a deal... And let me point out, that certain someone wasn't me. 

So, 50#'s of peaches (not cling-free!), 25#'s of sugar, 8 pkgs of pectin, a little lemon juice, 9 hours, 4 aching feet, small knife nicks and sweat later, and we have 80(!) jars of peach jam, peach pie jam, and probably some peach syrup.  80 jars of jam = 5 gallons of jammy goodness.  I think you know what's coming in your Christmas package.

And silly me, I still haven't learned my lesson.  I'm going to Sur La Table some time this week and see if they have one of these or these in stock.  If they do, we'll be repeating the process again next weekend.  Sigh.

Besides the peaches, I also did two jars of refrigerator B&B pickles, a half-gallon of sugar-free strawberry ice cream, and installed new shelving units in the laundry room.  The house is still a mess but smells of peaches, so it's all good.

80 Jars of Peachy Keen Sunshine

Another birthday, coming up...

   Usually, sometime near my birthday I like to review my goals from the beginning of the year.  It's a handy time for me to do this as you can't get much closer to the middle of the year than June/July time frame.  I'm always surprised when something can actually be crossed off my list, because, let's face it, I have absolutely zilch in the way of follow-through.  This year is, so far, no different.  I've been knitting, and things are getting done, just not as much as I would like.  Losing weight, not happening.  Keeping in touch with my sisters, barely, but almost current.  Blogging, ha! 

  I don't think that means that I need to stop planning though.  Because I do accomplish some of the things on my list, eventually.  Like my tangerine scarf - that's been on the list for about 4 years now.  And finally, it's done.  And the long "add-on" room has the floor and the paint, and is organized quite nicely.  That's been on my list since we moved into the house.  And last year, it finally got done. 

  Things just have to marinate a while before they get finished is all. I have a wish list a mile long.  Some things on it are really old, that doesn't mean I don't want to do them any more.  It just means I haven't done them yet.  I guess it's more of a bucket list than anything else.  This year we have plans to go to Yellowstone and meet up with some family.  Well, that's been on the list for a while.  Really, check it out.  It's more of a part of a bigger whole (like visiting all the National Parks or taking the nephews across the USA) but it's still part of my list.

  So I have the same goals and dreams over and over and over again.  And I make progress on some of them, but at least I am reminded of what I'd like to do and eventually, they might get done.  Should I publish them here and now?  I think not.  Accountability is all well and good, but I'd rather not expose myself to the world.  

  And summer is finally here - maybe?  It's been cool and misty the last couple of days and that is so unlike our summers that I don't know that the tomatoes are going to set fruit.  At least the farmer's market is full of fresh summer produce.  I had a peach today that just dissolved in my mouth - mmm.  But I always feel like summer time is my time.  I love the heat and the sunshine into the later evening hours.  It puts a bounce in my step.

  Navel gazing done for now.  Hope you have a happy!