Saturday, August 1, 2009

Cherry juice.. do you make it?

This year our cherry trees are finally producing like gangbuters~~ or is that busters, - shhheeeeessshhh... short fingers - anyway, I am going to try to make cherry jelly - and to do that you have to boil down lots of cherries to make cherry juice. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I will try to post about that later today and I may even get a couple of pics up of Milk Dud face planting in his birthday cake... it was priceless, frosting up his nose and the whole bit.

The last few days have been damp and chilly here in the north. We have not had a hot summer, I dont mind that, but the cool weather doesnt make the corn grow or the oats and barley rippen. It was so damp, that I actually started a fire in the wood stove... My basement smells like, well wet basement - I HATE THAT!! so I ran the dehumidfier and the stoked up the stove to dry it out...it helps so much. I better run, cherries dont cook themselves. I have 4 1/2 gallons of berries right now and the tree is only 1/2 picked, no I am not kidding..

And the public service announcement for the day is this - you MUST wear an aproved helmet when you are karate-judo-taikwondo-boxfigtkicking.. as Lispy is demonstraiting..
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15 comments:

  1. WudWerkrAugust 1, 2009 at 4:45 AM

    u wanna send the old guy and candle lady somthing , the cherry jelly would be a big hit for sure around here .

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  2. Schnitzel and the TroutAugust 1, 2009 at 5:33 AM

    I knew when I saw those cherry trees a couple of weeks ago, you'd have a major project on your hands. But, cherry jelly is so good....

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  3. Mrs. MomAugust 1, 2009 at 5:43 AM

    Oh man- I've never had homemade cherry jelly- I bet that is going to be amazingly good!!! Eat some for me please!! ;)

    Squeeze those babies from me!

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  4. JinglebobAugust 1, 2009 at 6:27 AM

    Awwwww, Mom!

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  5. SusanAugust 1, 2009 at 6:28 AM

    We " use " to have a Cherry Tree in our side yard... But it got cut down when it got too old / big. :-(
    My Mom would always come and pick so many cherries... And can she ever bake Cherry Pies!! Whoo Hoo!

    ~ Susan

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  6. HeidiAugust 1, 2009 at 6:32 AM

    Coffee man! I still owe you home made bread!!! GAH - I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO far behind...... I need the Milk Man to come rescue me and take me away farther than Calgon.. LOL

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  7. ClayvesselAugust 1, 2009 at 3:45 PM

    Hi Heidi,
    We, too, had a bumper crop of cherries this year. In fact, the cherry orchardists around here aren't even picking whole areas because the market it down from the glut.
    I made over thirty bottles of cherry juice with a juicer/steamer that I borrowed from a friend. It makes doing juice SO easy and less messy than doing the cooking and cheesecloth thing. I use it for my grapes too and then make jelly out of the juice.

    You can see a picture of the steamer on my blog post:
    http://potsnpies.blogspot.com/2009/07/birds-left-us-some.html

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  8. WudWerkrAugust 1, 2009 at 4:05 PM

    Hey milkmaid try this !

    This is one we have done in the past and its major leauge good!

    1 1 gallon glass milk jug
    1 Quart brandy
    3 Lbs sugar
    Cherries

    Put 3 lbs sugar in glass 1 gallon milk container . Fill with cherries . pour 1 quart brandy over cherries . put top on LOOSELY do NOT tighten .

    Let sit and work until ALL the sugar is gone . Drain off juice and keep away from children *snort* the cherry cordial u will have is soo sweet to drink and very potent . BTW you can get hammered eating the cherries as well after you take thm out of juice but they are GOOOOOOD !!

    This is some really good stuff , a little goes a long way and quite potent .

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  9. Karen DeborahAugust 1, 2009 at 8:09 PM

    wow what a crop, you could even make some syrup for pancakes. How wonderful wish I could come help and make some with you!

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  10. HeideAugust 2, 2009 at 6:43 PM

    If I had cherries I'd freeze them, can them whole, make jelly, make juice and freeze it, and find just about any other way possible to preserve them. But alas, I have no cherries. I just made plum jelly and I'm itching to start canning peaches, pears, etc.

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  11. Far Side of FiftyAugust 3, 2009 at 5:36 AM

    Hi Heidi, Just stopping by to check on you! So Glad your Dad is OK..very scary. Happy Birthday belated to Milk dud..loved the photos! Cold here too..hardly seems like we have had summer yet. :) Connie

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  12. GreenmareAugust 3, 2009 at 7:57 AM

    our cherries got invaded by some nasty little bugs this year. the ones we could use we had to pick apart and evict the little suckers out of that comfy spot next to the pit! grrr.
    sorry I didn't get on here enough lately to read about your dad. but he's on my prayer list now to keep getting healthier and healthier!

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  13. FaithfulAugust 3, 2009 at 10:57 PM

    Never heard of cherry jelly! I'll have to try that..I didn't get any cherries this year?! Coffeeman's rcipe sounds so good, too!

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  14. AnonymousAugust 4, 2009 at 8:11 AM

    She's right! A steamer/juicer is your friend, girlfriend! Makes very short work of juicing - well, anything! I make vegetable stock with it when the last of the tomatoes come in from the garden - throw in celery, onions, carrots, etc. Steam it down, and voila - the best vegetable stock for soup you've ever had.

    I'm just trying my hand at cherry jelly, too - and thus far - beautiful! May your cherry abundance be a blessing! :)

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  15. VickieAugust 7, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    Wish you could send me some. I love me some fresh cherries!

    Love Lispy's helmet. I have a photo somewhere of one of my boys being a Ninja Turtle. He had roped and belted a green laundry basket onto his back. He would have choked himself if he'd have fallen or something. But aren't they cute??? And innovative?

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