Life Is Just A Bowl Of...........

How lovely is the fruit of the season! Each month offers something new. Today was moderately warm and breezy- happily lacking the recent oppressive humidity. I always feel more alive when the humidity is lower. This was Farmers' Market day in a nearby town, so I went to check out the produce displays. Dark green cucumbers gleamed, the season's first peaches blushed, purplish plums beckoned, yellow or dark red cherries beguiled. I opted for 1/2 bushel of peaches to can and a decent sized basket of sour cherries for jam.

Having previously given up on using the clever "cherry pitter" tool, I devised a simpler and faster (for me) method of removing the pits from the sour cherries: Take a handful of washed/de-stemmed cherries, use a sharp paring knife to pop the skins, then squeeze the cherries one-by-one over a small bowl, removing the pits by hand. Well, it worked for me and my first batch of cherry jam is sitting prettily in small jars cooking on the counter.