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That’s what MOMMA said when she found the berries were ripe enough to pick after we bought the plums on Thursday. She got up early Friday and started in. By the time I got back from dialysis the table was covered in 20 jars of topping, 9 jars of jam, 6 jars Chinese plum sauce, and 4 jars of Tangy plum sauce.
These were purchased at Ashton’s Orchards in Ortonville,MI.(No website)
Then we staggered out early Saturday to go to Pennel’s Farm in Vassar,MI,Stopping on the way at Rosati’s Marketplace to clear their shelves of jelly jars. We managed to pick 4 pints of blackberries(me 1/10) before deciding to buy ready picked reds.
We drove to a nearby roadside park and had a leisurely lunch before heading home. Then on to home and canning. By 10:25 we had 9 jars of blackberry and 29 jars of red raspberry jam cooling on the counter.
So despite what MOMMA said, it all got done!
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OMG! didn’t know peaches could be so hard! Momma had to peel them with a potato peeler. The first bathes we did Thursday night were OK for the Peach Melba, but Friday they got small and hard. I had to leave for dialysis and leave Momma to all that work. While I was gone she did 5 batches of jam,1 of pie filling,and 2 of canned peaches.
Which totaled; 18 8oz Peach Melba, 4 pints pie filling, 11 pints canned peaches,17 8oz & 15 12oz jam, from 1 bushel of peaches, and 2 pints of red raspberries!
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17 jars in the first batch was not enough!! The food room called out for more pickled beets. We ordered another 1/2 bushel from McDaniel’s Farm Stand. They called yesterday to say the beets were pulled. Knowing the rest of the week is filled with medical appointments, we set off about 3PM to pick them up. Eight hours later, 29 more pints were ready for the storeroom.
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We finished 6 batches of blueberry products the other day, when I remembered, Clear-Jel! I had bought it for making pie fillings for the mini cheesecake. Oh, no, we have to pick more berries! So off to Blueberry Lane for another 3.5 pounds of berries.45 minutes of picking & back home for lunch.
Then to work. Blanch the berries,drain & keep warm. Mix Clear-Jel and sugar. Boil water with food coloring , add Clear-Jel sugar to water, bring to boil & simmer 1 minute. Did i do that? Nooooooo,I dumped it all together and when it came to a boil it started to thicken.
So we quickly canned it before we were unable to pour it.I’ll know better next time, but it still tastes pretty good. Of course you know when I say we , that means Momma doing most of the picking and getting jars ready.
Only 4 pints! Good thing.
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Today went well, considering that we ran out of berries. So Momma went down and picked 4 more pounds.
tOTALS
9 Blueberry Chutney
8 Blueberry Sauce
8 Blueberry Jam
1 8 Bluebarb Jam
Yesterday was perfect for picking, hazy and cool, in the low 70’s. It would have been nice for canning also, but our old bone don’t take well standing in 1 place and bending over so much, So we got home & napped a little, then went out shopping for chutney & sauce ingredients. Then Momma treated me to walleye at McPherson’s in Millington.
So we canned today in 82 degree heat & high humidity.
Next up, raspberries and peaches. We can make Momma’s favorite"PEACH MELBA”
Post a comment to 'BLUEBERRIES ON BOARD!'
It was going to be a wonderful weekend, then Momma came in with the mailbox & post in the back of the truck. So, off o the lumberyard With new post aboard we set out to replace the broken one.
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There then ensued a comedy of errors you would not believe two adults could commit. I cut the new post 8 inches too short. Then filled the hole 6 inches too full with gravel that Momma scraped from the driveway. So then we got out the Genie shop-vac and 150 feet of cord to remove excess gravel because I couldn’t reach to the bottom without knocking more dirt into the hole. Finally, on the fourth try, it measured 43 inches to the bottom of the box. A call to the post office had found we needed 41-45 inches. Eureka!!
After a good nights sleep, we pitted the cherries. Having two pitters and the hands to run them meant the job was done in less than an hour. I even watched my car shows on TV at the same time.
So far we have canned 16 jars of cherry jam. Next up two batches of Danish Cherry Sauce for topping future mini cheesecakes.
Here you have--an additional 11 pints of Danish Cherry Sauce to add to our jam.
Another Michigan Fruit canned this weekend!
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16.18 lbs picked this morning at Spicer’s Orchard . The weather was perfect, clear with a light breeze. About 75 degrees.
The trees we chose had cherries so low I could sit on the ground and pick while Momma stood and picked them in bunches. All the time she was saying “I can taste that Danish Cherry Sauce already!”
Not too shabby for two oldsters with no help from kids, grandkids. or anyone else under the age of 66.
Post a comment to 'Tart Cherries here already!'
STRAWBERRY JAM AND STRAWBERRIES & RHUBARB JAM, IN THE BOTTLES. Eight quarts strawberries, four and a half lbs. rhubarb & you don’t want to know how much sugar makes 42 jars of jam. The start of another season of jammin.
That was the output and a small amount of the hardware involved. There were also several bowls, 2 wooden spoons, a sauce pan, a small stockpot and several measuring cups. Not to mention 4 hands and 2 tired backs and a sticky floor.
Now for the catch-up.
She also keeps my elbows warm.
Me drilling plant holes for petunias using new auger, plants dug up that night by a mean ol’ coon.
The new Green Gage plum and Rochester peach. Sold my old Troy Horse & got an Electric Mantis Tiller, first use, dig holes for new trees and about 12 Lilacs. It’s a hoggin fool!
Now to make some insecticidal soap to deter the bugs on the fruit trees.
Almost forgot to post a pic of my new sdreen saver!
Post a comment to 'IT’S JAMMIN TIME AGAIN !!!'
The other day we cooked out doors on the new deck. I fired up the grill and put on the hot dog roller.Then I sautees some onions and sweet pepper in butter
added some beer and brats and simmered for 15 minutes.
Letting the rollers do all the work.
While I relaxed.
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Start by staring into ComposT-Twin tumbler, to see if compost is ready to use after 1 year. Normal is 2 weeks.
First we planted the Rochester peach. Not shown is the new Mantis electric tiller tearing new a**holes in our clay & rocky soil. Worked great and saved a lot of time and effort. However, this what I looked like after working on only 2 holes.
Last to go in was the Green Gage plum. I have been looking for this for 2 years. Even had trouble finding it on the web, until I spelled as 2 words. It tuns out “Green Gages” were imported into England from France in 1724 by Sir William Gage. Finally it is in my yard.
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# Today: Windy...cloudy with rain and snow. High around 40F. Winds E at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of precip 90%. A slushy accumulation of around one inch.
# Tonight: Cloudy and windy at times with periods of rain. Low 37F. ESE winds at 20 to 30 mph, diminishing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
# Tomorrow: Light rain...mixing with snow in the afternoon. High near 40F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 80%.
# Tomorrow night: Snow showers early becoming more scattered later. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
So of course this had to arrive. I assembled it on the kitchen table. Now it will tantalize me until better weather.lI decided on the electric model because I have trouble pull starting gas engines now after all the chest and arm surgeries.
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Up at 7am to travel to SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN SURGICAL HOSPITAL to have yet another graft in my left forearm for dialysis access. Just fished breakfast and am going back to bed. Hope this one works.
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So pretty. Too bad it tasted so bad. I figured a Pillsbury Bakeoff Millionaire winning recipe HAD to be good. WRONG O. First it called for branded waffles, I had homemade Belgian waffles. Then I couldn’t find any poultry seasoning, so I pulled a recipe off the Web & made my own. Too bad I didn’t have time to grind it. The final straw was not having any fresh sage(I killed the plant) so I added MORE rubbed sage. We didn’t finish the stuffing. The chicken was good but the next time I will use skinless, boneless breast portions and a regular waffle, (still homemade). I will also work on that seasoning.
Post a comment to 'I CAN COOK NO WRONG HAH !!!'
See that? I guess Momma wants bigger meals. She just added to my collection of cast iron, or maybe just wants something easier to wash. The new dutch oven by Calphalon has a ceramic coating and also dimples on the underside of the lid to promote condensation draining down into the pot.
Let’s see now, the largest brisket I can find? Or 8 Lbs of Sauerbraten?
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