Bobby and I tried out our canning skills today. I've always done some canning with my Mom and family but I've never tried it out on my own before. So, today was a first for us.
Our neighbors, the ones with the really green lawn and trees in the backyard (my haven, an oasis in this desert, sorry if I'm disturbing you by staring all the time! but to see a color besides brown is heavenly) said we could come and get some pie cherries off their tree if we wanted. And they also said the cherries make excellent jam, so we had to try it out. Free, except for manual labor, of course. They really are great neighbors. They gave us some tomatoe plants to try when they bought too many; we use their tools constantly - drill, pick ax, and today a jar lifter; they even let us try out some of their chicken and duck eggs too; and when I'm home alone and Bobby's gone at work, if I need help I have been instructed to "just come on over". Could you ask for better neighbors?
We finally got around to taking them up on their offer this afternoon. (I got to enter the green sanctuary!) I met Bee and Daisy, their two dogs. One is middle size with black and white colors, and the other is a tiny, tiny fuzzy dachshund who thinks she is quite fierce. They used to bark at us all the time, but seem to have accepted us now. I am definitely a cat person as the grey feline made straight towards me. It's an unfair curse to be allergic to an animal I get along with so well. I admired their three small white ducks, laughed at the gobbling turkeys, and stared at the strange white fluff ball which was actually a chicken. And of course, we got cherries too.
Bobby got us some new jar lids and pectin to use. I read the directions meticulously, and then of course called the expert - Mom - to recheck everything once again to be sure I got it right. It's frustrating how long pitting little cherries can take, especially when they have little white worms in them. Yuck! And the juice is so sticky and itchy as it starts to slid down you arms. But we finally got enough and started boiling and adding sugar (twice the amount of sugar as fruit - how bad could it taste in the end, even with pucker-power cherries?). At the end of it all, this is what we have:
Our neighbors, the ones with the really green lawn and trees in the backyard (my haven, an oasis in this desert, sorry if I'm disturbing you by staring all the time! but to see a color besides brown is heavenly) said we could come and get some pie cherries off their tree if we wanted. And they also said the cherries make excellent jam, so we had to try it out. Free, except for manual labor, of course. They really are great neighbors. They gave us some tomatoe plants to try when they bought too many; we use their tools constantly - drill, pick ax, and today a jar lifter; they even let us try out some of their chicken and duck eggs too; and when I'm home alone and Bobby's gone at work, if I need help I have been instructed to "just come on over". Could you ask for better neighbors?
We finally got around to taking them up on their offer this afternoon. (I got to enter the green sanctuary!) I met Bee and Daisy, their two dogs. One is middle size with black and white colors, and the other is a tiny, tiny fuzzy dachshund who thinks she is quite fierce. They used to bark at us all the time, but seem to have accepted us now. I am definitely a cat person as the grey feline made straight towards me. It's an unfair curse to be allergic to an animal I get along with so well. I admired their three small white ducks, laughed at the gobbling turkeys, and stared at the strange white fluff ball which was actually a chicken. And of course, we got cherries too.
Bobby got us some new jar lids and pectin to use. I read the directions meticulously, and then of course called the expert - Mom - to recheck everything once again to be sure I got it right. It's frustrating how long pitting little cherries can take, especially when they have little white worms in them. Yuck! And the juice is so sticky and itchy as it starts to slid down you arms. But we finally got enough and started boiling and adding sugar (twice the amount of sugar as fruit - how bad could it taste in the end, even with pucker-power cherries?). At the end of it all, this is what we have:
Seven half-pint sized jars which taste like a sun ripened cherry cobbler just came out of the oven. It is good!!! I don't know how long they'll last with homemade bread...
3 comments:
Mmmm, sounds good. And yes, you could ask for better neighbors--us. ;)And for the record, I voted boy on the poll. I'm so excited to find out this week!!
Not long! It looks so pretty too. Good job Kali
Yumm! What great neighbors! That looks (and sounds) so dang good. Way to go.
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