Pitiful...that was my day yesterday. Full of pits. The pits. Hours and hours of life passed by as I pitted and pitted and pitted. It's a pity. And you're all invited to my pretty peppy pitty party. It took a surprisingly long time, but I managed to put away about 10 pounds of cherries in the form of nine pints of cherry pie filing. The pie filling was cooked up and ladled into jars pretty quickly, but the stemming and pitting took forever.
There were still a few cherries left after all of that, both sweet and tart, and so I put them together to bake this cherry pie for two. Yum.
With cherries taking up the entire day, there was only time for some slow-stitching in the morning.
I was able to fill my hoop on this Pieces of the Past plate. (Please notice how well that fits with the rest of my awesome alliteration.) Toward the end of the day I was a pooped pup. And I had housework in the mix too. Ordinarily, housework would be put on hold when I'm doing a lot of canning, but it was already on hold from last week when we were on a camping trip. At some point, one has to bite the bullet and do it.
Our plan was to pick more cherries yesterday evening, but I decided to take a day off from cherries for today. They're still on the tree, still ripening, and we'll get out this morning and do it. Maybe I'll do a little more canning today. Maybe I won't. The spirit hasn't moved me in either direction at this point.
Now here's something: I'm excited to say I think I have some purple poppies. And they're getting ready to bloom!
Their foliage is different from the red ones. The purples behave very mysteriously. Mae gave me the seeds from her own plants, but she noted they only bloom purple once, and then come back as red ones. And it seems that getting purple is hit or miss since the purple ones I planted grew into red ones. I've Googled this
question of the changing colors, and the consensus seems to be they change colors to attract pollinators.
But the other reason this interested me is that I only planted the seeds this past spring. The other poppies I've grown from seed have required two seasons to bloom, and so these are ahead of their expected time. Now I can't wait to see them open. Will they really be purple? We'll all be waiting on tenterhooks to find out. And there are lots of buds. Garden surprises are so much fun.
Okay, and it was nearing the end of the day when I took that picture. Time for pie. Yum.
And not too long after that...bed. I was tired.
So, for sure we'll pick some more cherries today. But I might hold off until tomorrow to process them. I'm not sure I can stand another day of it just now. And there's still housework to do. And sewing. I really want to finish off And On that Farm. Right now it's spread all over the sewing room. It still needs two borders and finishing off the applique. It will probably get my attention today.
11 comments:
That is the cutest little cherry pie!!!
and couldn't you get one of your quilting staff--
to help you 'pit'????
Lazy kitties!!!!
will be watching those poppies with you--
luv, di
That is pure love in those jars after all that work. I also love to can my own pie fillings, so much more flavor than store-bought. You did a beautiful job, you’ll be glad all winter when you provide delicious concoctions for your family. How clever of Mike to use the tractor for picking! Keep pittin’ those pails of portentous palate-pleasin’ pie fillings!
Hi Barbara! I thought about you yesterday when I was reading my latest Food & Wine magazine. There is a recipe for a delish smoke cherry bounce that both you and Mike could make together. It would be ready for your RV trip later this year!! https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/smoked-cherry-bounce YUM!!
Cherry pie is my fave. My most favority fave when it has sour cherries and vanilla ice cream. No luck with poppies this year (maybe planted too late?) but I still have seeds and I will try again.
Those cherries look so tasty! I assume you have a pitter and aren't doing them all by hand? I've never used such a thing but I know they exist. I am awaiting a full report about the purple poppies because I didn't know there was such a thing. I thought they were either red or orange. Fingers crossed you get purple!
That is a lot of cherries! Pie looks yummy. What quilt shop finder do you use? We are taking a trip to Salt Lake City so he can attend a handi Quilter maintenance class. I am looking for something to do while he is learning!
Your cherry pie looks delicious! I have pitted cherries a few times and use the chopstick method and either an empty pop bottle or beer bottle. After removing the stem, you just place the cherry on top of the bottle and shove the chopstick through the hole and the pit falls into the bottle. You could use a sturdy straw in place of the chopstick if you don’t have one, Kids seem to like it and it is a safe method. Love your purple poppy! Cannot wait to see its lovely blooms!
You are such a hoot. All that cherry pickin' has resulted in some yummy looking treats. We are heading out to do some of our own next week, but we'll have them pitted for us (learned that the hard way - yes, pitting takes forever!!). Your stitching looks great, as always. Looking forward to the purple poppy!
Your purple poppy looks like an annual variety. I have them all over as they self seed prolifically (as does larkspur which has taken over one garden and must be restrained). The poppies now are mostly a peachy color with an occasional red, but I don't think I've ever had purple. I don't doubt you are tired of pitting cherries even with the aid of a mechanical pitter. I haven't had access to home grown cherries in years, but remember the pitting (by hand) as tedious.
Pat
Your pie looks delicious. I wanted to tell you that i received the beautiful fat quarter bundle. Thank you so much.
Carolyn
That's a lot of pitting!! I don't think I ever pitted cherries or canned them. We have a LOT of fruit trees on this mountain. The apricots just don't make it past the hanging stage before someone is picking and popping in their mouth. The plums are good too. There are trees with tiny pears on them. I suspect next year there will be a whole lot of canning going on.
xx, Carol
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