Cherry Sploosh

Everyone I live with knows if ever a windfall of fruit or veg enters this house it must be cut up an shoved into jars the very day it shows up.  I have an unshakeable belief that all produce should be canned the day it is picked.

All activities came to a screeching halt, on Friday afternoon when Perrin, the clever boy, showed up with 2 bags full of CHERRIES!  The genius worked out a "will work for cherries" arrangement with an older lady a mile down the road.

The first batch of jam (recipe found in The Ball Blue Book") was a complete and total mess, and will forever be know as Cherry Sploosh.  My water bath wasn't boiling when the jam reached temp, so I turned the stove to low, hoping the jam would stay warm. Well it went beyond warm, past the gelling point and must have reach hard crack. I have 5 1/2 pints of cherry hard candy!

The next attempt (we shall call the redeeming batch) was too yummy to be considered food storage, and was immediately devoured.

This, my friend, is what I am working on today. I'll use these beauties to make pie filling, following the Utah State University Extension Office instructions.

Update:     6-29     The pie filling turned out great. I ended up with 7 quarts and 3 pints.

Side note:     Spending the day pitting and chopping cherries will turn your fingers a disconceerting shade of brown. If you don't want brown fingers, wear gloves.