Fruity Cordials

I will pick the last of the raspberries from the patch tonight and head out to a local orchard (Cherry Hill) tomorrow for my last batch of fresh picked cherries. I need a few more pie cherries to dry and maybe make a cherry crisp.

After every batch of jam I've made the past few weeks, there has been enough berries to do something with, but not enough for another batch of jam. What to do?! Then, I remembered a good friend saying something about cordial so I searched the internet for recipes. Be careful what you seek, there are nearly as many cordial recipes as there are people who drink cordial.

The raspberry cordial (on the right) is made with 2 lbs. of whole berries, 2 cups of vodka and 1 cup of sugar. It took about 5 days for the sugar to dissolve and the fruit to start breaking down. You can see a layer of seeds at the bottom of the jar.

The cherry cordial is made with a mix of bing and rainier cherries. I had two large bowls full of cherries and am home alone for a few days. It contains 2 lbs. cherries, 2 cups sugar, 3 whole allspice, 1 cup of brandy and 1 cup of rum. Hopefully the bing cherries will add some of their deep red color to the mix. I don't like the dirty look of the rum/brandy mix. The sugar dissolved better in this mixture, but you can still see a thin film of sugar at the bottom of the jar. I'm sure this is going to be one "sweet" drink when it is ready.

I used these wonderful 2 quart Kerr canning jars that I rescued from my aunt's garage. As a kid I remember her making grape juice in them - it was wonderful stuff. I'm hoping these cordial recipes turn out as well.

Apples & Eggs

 My family loves - L-O-V-E-S - apples. Red apples. Yellow apples. Sweet, juicy apples. Green apples. Apples that make you pucker.

 After washing and slicing, they are put into the dehydrator. Some are left au-naturel, some are sprinkled with cinnamon for a little added anti-oxident and a flavor explosion.

 After a couple of hours, the house is filled with the sweet, warm smell of baked apples and we have handfulls of sweet apple treats.

 And, Suprise! Green eggs and ham for dinner. The lone surviving spring chick started laying last week and we are getting these fabulous-green shelled eggs. The hen is an Aracauna, the breed is also known as the "Easter Egg Chicken" because of the soft, pastel colored egg shells. Our other chicks are about 8 weeks old and should start laying between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mmmmm, salsa

It was a late night in the kitchen making salsa. I have spent a few years perfecting a salsa recipe that is just right for our needs.

This salsa contains tomatoes, onions, green and yellow bell pepper, banana peppers, garlic and jalepeno pepper. I usually make one batch that has habanero peppers. Spice it up! It is a fairly plain recipe, which makes it more versatile for cooking and enjoying straight out of the jar.

Most of this will get used straight out of the jar and onto chips or quesadillas. I usually add fresh cilantro. Sometimes I add avacado or shrimp just to change it up. I can also use this in recipes were I need to add other spices, herbs or seasonings without the salsa overpowering everything else. Like salsa baked chicken, Spanish rice or to spice up meatballs.

Cherries!

My father-in-law arrived with two flat boxes filled with cherries. One filled with Rainiers and the other with Bings, freshly picked that morning from the Yakima Valley.They made for challenging project of preserving them while simultaneously hosting company in my house, helping my sister and mom hold a yard sale in my yard and entertaining children.

My mom helped clean all the cherries. She rinsed and pulled stems while I searched through our storage for my canning supplies. We water bath canned most of the cherries in quart jars. I find the process of canning, especially when doing it with my mom relaxing and productive - productive in a way that is different from other housework or office work.
There were enough for 28 quart jars and 14 pint jars of cherries. I even did one jar with a mixture of the two. The Rainier cherries look stark against the deep red juice the Bing cherries make in the jar.

There is something very gratifying about seeing your shelves filled with the "fruits of your labor."

After a couple hours of canning, there were still more cherries left than we could possibly eat before they spoiled. So, into the dehydrator they went. I cut each cherry in half and removed the pit. They looked like tiny peaches or nectarines. They were treated with Fruit Fresh in hopes they would retain their color after drying.

And, they did! They look wonderful and taste wonderful.