Summer Busy

Yesterday we went to the library. Upon arriving- I discovered I had left my purse at home. Yikes! Dan lent me his library card to check out my books. We drove carefully back home. Ben worked the 4am-1:00pm shift, so once he got home, I headed off to WalMart- again! (Yeah, like 3 times a week!) And I STILL forgot the white grape juice, even though it was on my list. (I sent Ben to the local grocery store in Gentry for a bottle.)

White grape juice is the 'sugar substitute' for the unsweetened cherry jam I made last night. It was quite ... tangy. I will try another batch tonight soon, since I have the cherries on hand. But I will add a wee bit of sugar to the second batch. The recipe only makes 5 half-pints. I don't get off until 7 tonight, and I know I won't be wanting to mess with canning anything then. Perhaps I can get the cherries ready, though, at some point over the weekend. First, the cherries are washed, Then the stems removed. Then, lacking a cherry pitter, I use a knife to cut a line around the pit. Once I have all the cherries cut, I twist them apart and remove the pit. It actually went pretty quickly once I had a rhythm going.

Mom and Ralph may come up sometime this week. (Bribed her with blackberry jelly and "cop". (I can't think of which of the kids just couldn't say "cobbler"... they called it a "cop". One of our family names that stuck.)

We finished processing the blueberries this morning. All are now frozen and ready to be gobbled down. (I would say "this winter" but I have no illusions of them lasting that long!) I am thinking I better do the same (freezing) the blackberries for the "cop", lest they ferment in the fridge and make a sour wine, LOL.

Time for me to be getting set and ready for work. Have a great day!