We picked up our first order of the fruit co-op we joined in spring. It was 96 pounds of organic produce for something like $167. I, being the genius that I am, ordered 2 shares. Other drops during the summer will be apples, pears, and peaches.
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| "These ALL for ME mommy"? |
I brought home 36 pounds of cherries on Wednesday, and let's just say, I'm going to have a super exciting weekend. I've given away 9 pounds to neighbors and family, but it's more of them doing me a favor. I have one small hand pitter. It's going to be a long week. I'm going to get pitting-itis. My hand will look like a claw by Sunday.
My plan of attack:
-cherry jam/preserves (canned)
-cherry fruit leather
-pints of whole (pitted) cherries that I will can and then put on the shelf and figure out what the hell to do with them some time in January.
To keep all my effort from being in vain (well, I guess all the canned goodness is worth the effort), I'm using the pits as mulch in the garden.
So...who wants to help? I'll pay you in cherries.
Yum, cherries! I'd take that sort of payment in exchange for help. But I dont have a pitter, so I guess that'd be counter productive. Give your hand plenty of rest so it doesnt cram.
ReplyDeleteYou can take the stems off, and I'll pit. It will save lots of time!
DeleteA hand cranked cherry pitter can be found at Ace Hardware (or the like) for not a lot of money and might just save your hand from Claw-dom. Especially if you are thinking of doing this next year too.
ReplyDeleteMy husbands says to either compost your pits or at least boil them to kill the seeds before you use them as mulch or else you'll have a cherry orchard growing amongst your cucumbers. And then next year's claw hand will far exceed this year's. (Actually, it would take many years to reap the benefits of from the cherry pits but it sounded better than saying "seven years from now, you'll be sorry.")
Have a wonderful weekend of pitting and cooking!
-Melissa
You inspired me and I went and got one. It was on sale for $15.99 and it was great! Jack loved using it, so any time I can get some help, I consider it a win.
DeleteI really wish we had some kind of co-op like that here in Colorado! I would so spend a week or so putting up fruit and vegetables to have the rest of the year. I know you told me you can can fruit with a hot water bath - just to make sure that includes cherries? And I'll be waiting for the recipe for the Cherry Fruit Leather....
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of co-op's, CSA's around within Colorado. We have a phenomenal wealth of produce grown in the state. Google Colorado CSA.
Delete-Melissa
Oh, I wish I had that problem right now. Cherries in Fairbanks are over $4 a pound. Sorry I'm not there to help out.
ReplyDeleteI use this one. http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-GPC-5000-Cherry-It-Multiple/dp/B0026RI3TU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344028786&sr=8-2&keywords=cherry+pitter I made cherry preserves and just pitted 3 pounds like butter.
ReplyDeleteI have a hand pitter also, I just turned on some oldies music (loudly) and it went by fast.
ReplyDeleteYou must at least try this recipe. I haven't done their fancy crust, though. I loathe rolling out dough, so I use the refrigerated kind *gasp*, and it's still unbelievable. My mom has yet to disown me, so I think it'll be alright. :)
ReplyDeleteYour life will never be the same after this pie...just sayin. http://www.joyofbaking.com/CherryPie.html
I'll save this for the winter when I need to open up one of those jars. Everything is pitted and canned by now.
DeleteI will pit for cherries.
ReplyDeleteYou're hired!
DeleteKeep a few of the cherry pits! Clean them well, so there is no more fruit on them, then sew some cotton fabric into a pillow shape. Fill with the cherry pits and it's one of those hot/cold compress pillows! I had those when my kids were little! They keep the heat really well. For tummy aches, better then hot water bottles for the little ones! Just make sure the seams are all well, so they can't get to the pits! I actually made the initial pillow out of muslin, double sewed all seams (like you would with a French Seam sort of) and then made a case out of a cute cotton print, but sew it closed also. (you could maybe put a zipper, so you can wash it) Wish I had cherry pits! :)
ReplyDeleteSo smart! I've made rice bags before, but never thought about cherry pits!
DeleteCherry ice cream! Yum.
ReplyDeleteI'll take some cherry frui leather please. Now.
ReplyDeleteIf you get to the point of "no more pitting", I can mine whole with pits in. We pour them over vanilla ice cream throughout the winter (so good!) and just spit the pits out.
ReplyDeleteMMMmmm... Cherries! Don't forget to freeze some. Wash and pit them, dry them off a bit, put on a tray in the freezer and after they're frozen just put into bags (or containers, whatever fits best in your freezer). We used to do this every summer and had wonderful cherries for snacks (when it was too warm out) or we used them almost like fresh cherries in the winter for baking, etc. Oh, the memories...!
ReplyDeleteHow did you find the fruit CSA? Our family lives in Chicago and we have many produce CSA options but I struggle with finding a fruit and nut CSA. *smile*
ReplyDeletetry this website: http://www.gardens.com/local/csa/
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