Happenings
Jul. 24th, 2012 12:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flybystardancerSo, my straight skirt remains partially-sewn. Some more time-sensitive projects have popped up. Namely, fruit that needed to be turned into canned yummies.
So, last week I was cat-sitting for some friends. They cat-sat my pair while I was at Disneyland, so it was only fair that I sat for them while they were on a Disney cruise, right? Anyways, they have a plum tree in their backyard, and it's started dropping its fruit. They don't really pick it and I called dibs on the fruit when they moved in. So while they were gone, I picked every piece of fruit I could without the use of a tall person or a ladder.
The fruit was so ripe that I didn't even need to blanche them to peel them. The flesh just squished right out of the skins. And oh man, what a beautiful yellow color that flesh was.
Not that I was able to keep that color. I don't add pectin when making jam, so the fruit needs to cook longer, which makes it dark. These ended up REALLY dark.
Okay, so that picture shows them a bit darker than they are in RL, but it gives you an idea. And the taste I got from licking utensils afterwards made them taste like pure caramel. And I used a couple cups less sugar than I normally would have! I had to sterilize/fill/process in two batches, since I can only fit seven half-pints in the pot I use for water baths. There's four 'plain' plum jam half-pints (the lighter ones), and then five and a most half-pints of jam that I processed in the second batch that have a small amount of spices added.
And then today one of my neighbors brought over the last of his peaches. His wife just left on a 5-day trip and he didn't want them to go to waste.
So I got to peeling and chopping... I only had enough for about four half-pint jars of peach jam last year (and one went to the neighbors). Which was a bit sad, since I loved that jam. Not going to have that problem this year!
For reference... That plastic bowl has markings for up to 8 cups. A single 'batch' for me is 4-6 cups fruit. The peaches in the slow cooker pot are currently cooking to be turned into peach butter. The other two containers are stashed away in the fridge to be turned into jam.
...Now I just need to make an emergency run to the grocery store for sugar. I'm out!
So, last week I was cat-sitting for some friends. They cat-sat my pair while I was at Disneyland, so it was only fair that I sat for them while they were on a Disney cruise, right? Anyways, they have a plum tree in their backyard, and it's started dropping its fruit. They don't really pick it and I called dibs on the fruit when they moved in. So while they were gone, I picked every piece of fruit I could without the use of a tall person or a ladder.
The fruit was so ripe that I didn't even need to blanche them to peel them. The flesh just squished right out of the skins. And oh man, what a beautiful yellow color that flesh was.
Not that I was able to keep that color. I don't add pectin when making jam, so the fruit needs to cook longer, which makes it dark. These ended up REALLY dark.
Okay, so that picture shows them a bit darker than they are in RL, but it gives you an idea. And the taste I got from licking utensils afterwards made them taste like pure caramel. And I used a couple cups less sugar than I normally would have! I had to sterilize/fill/process in two batches, since I can only fit seven half-pints in the pot I use for water baths. There's four 'plain' plum jam half-pints (the lighter ones), and then five and a most half-pints of jam that I processed in the second batch that have a small amount of spices added.
And then today one of my neighbors brought over the last of his peaches. His wife just left on a 5-day trip and he didn't want them to go to waste.
So I got to peeling and chopping... I only had enough for about four half-pint jars of peach jam last year (and one went to the neighbors). Which was a bit sad, since I loved that jam. Not going to have that problem this year!
For reference... That plastic bowl has markings for up to 8 cups. A single 'batch' for me is 4-6 cups fruit. The peaches in the slow cooker pot are currently cooking to be turned into peach butter. The other two containers are stashed away in the fridge to be turned into jam.
...Now I just need to make an emergency run to the grocery store for sugar. I'm out!
no subject
Date: 2012-07-24 03:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-24 06:00 pm (UTC)Peaches have been buzzed up into mush and are now cooking down for butter...