The first lettuces of spring are so full of hope and the promise of summer (ick--also full of little sluggies that get a one way trip down the disposal), but it is the beginning of the summer garden treasures that I love. This week El Professor has been up in our giant, overgrown cherry tree doing a much anticipated pruning job. He waited until the cherries were ripe and then pruned off cherry loaded branches to be picked over. We've never been sure what kind of cherry our tree bears...some opinions have been Royal Ann, others have been Rainier. Either way, the cherries don't keep for long and we have usually given away the bowls, bags, and bucketfuls that we don't eat. We have given away tons of cherries this year already, but I have also decided to try preserving some with the dehydrator a friend gave me.....
I love dried fruit and these are pretty good. I found a recipe for Cardamon/Dried Cherry Scones I might try. A little research also showed that cherries can be frozen.....I bought a pitter to speed up the process of prepping cherries and have put several bagfuls into the freezer. Later we might use them with the juicer. I'm going to make some cherry jam, too. Hmm. The sound of cherry jam doesn't send me running to the toaster for a lovely summer-bounty-coated piece of toast, but it's worth a try.
While El Professor was picking cherries, I picked raspberries. This is the third year our raspberries have been in and they have been loaded. I filled a lasagna pan with red berries and put them in the freezer. Anne gathered some berries last week and worked them into her baking project......
....and there are 41 bundles drying in the garage.
The cilantro and the tomatoes are never ready at the same time--at least not in my garden. But I've discovered that you can make salsa with that spring/early summer cilantro by keeping canned whole/peeled tomatoes in the pantry.
1 comment:
awesome documentation! can't wait for the next salsa chip moment and maybe a cold beverage : )
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