Let's Jam

Summer is coming and if you're like me, you are ready for some delicious fresh fruit. I spent many hours as a kid picking fruit from my great aunt's cherry tree, and then many more hours removing the pits. My brother, sister & I would lean precariously off step ladders under the trees trying to reach the best (ripest) ones. My mom would use some of the cherries to make pies, but mostly she made cherry jelly.

Marylin’s Cherry Jelly5 cups sugar4 cups pitted, chopped sweet cherries1 1 ¾ –ounce box regular powdered fruit pectin¼ cup lemon juice½ teaspoon butter (optional, antifoaming agent)¼ teaspoon ascorbic acid crystalsWash, pit, and chop the cherries, with a pinch of ascorbic acid crystal. Mix together the cherries, lemon juice, butter and pectin. Wait 10 minutes; boil for 1 minute. Add the sugar; boil for 1 more minute.

Mom always used sealing wax on her fruit jars, although I don't know if it's done much anymore.

The library has many books on fruit and vegetable canning. You can find them in the Cooking Neighborhood, just look for dewey number 641.72.

Sandy Patterson

Library Senior Associate

Around the Home