Easy as Cherry Jam

Our Cherries and Essential Oils are 'in a Jam'.

We picked and pitted 50lbs of cherries in the last 3 days. I'm glad to say our counters are cherry free for the moment--unless they're in jars becoming wine, in pie, in bags as leathers, or canned as 'Tango Cherry Jam'. Having not yet tasted the wine, we can't know for sure until that's done, but so far the Tango Cherry Jam is by far the best result of our picking adventure. And I have to share.

Tango Cherry Jam by Schoolhouse Farm

• 5lbs Bing Cherries washed, pitted and mashed up.
• 2.5cups sugar
• 1 package Sure Gel Low Sugar Pectin
• 1 cup of water
• 10 drops Certified Pure Tangerine Essential Oil (ask us how you can get some free!)

Bring cherries to a simmer and add in 10 drops Tangerine Essential Oil.
In a separate pot mix water, sugar and pectin. Over the burner stir constantly until it comes to a boil, then allow to boil while mixing for 1 minute.

Quickly pour the pectin mixture over your cherries and stir in quickly and thoroughly. Pour into clean canning jars leaving 1/2inch headroom, cover and allow to sit on the counter over night or until set.
Store in the freezer or in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Makes about 9 8oz jars.

on freshly made sourdough? perfection. I just captured our first wild caught sourdough culture (following the simple directions available in this book) since having moved in and it worked so well. Makes me wonder what took me so long, nothing beats warm bread with a generous layer of butter and homemade jam!

Birthday for the Trees

Tonight starts Shevat 15 according to the Hebrew Calendar, thereby making it Tu B'shevat.

"Legally, the “New Year for Trees” relates to the various tithes that are separated from produce grown in the Holy Land. These tithes differ from year to year in the seven-year shemittah cycle; the point at which a budding fruit is considered to belong to the next year of the cycle is the 15th of Shevat."

-chabad.org

We rounded up fruit yesterday and today has been a fun day of tree recognition around our home. Later we'll enjoy a dinner that revolves around reading scriptures, thinking about the trees and the providence we are offered. It's a less well known but enjoyable holiday that gives us a chance to take it easy and splurge on non-local, unseasonal fruits that we tend to avoid in these cold months of winter. It's about Israel's produce, the Land of Milk & Honey, not so much about here--though we are using one of our own Meyer Lemons!

click on the picture to see the directions.

To commemorate we created this tree decor. A simple project that started yesterday with the painting of the big sheets of watercolor paper. That was fun for everyone, we even had a chance to talk about mixing colors.  Now we're just waiting for Drew to trace and cut out his hand so the tree will be complete.

And, the table was prepared by the girls this morning. We use this guide to commemorate, and it calls for 4 plates. The girls sorted them well. 1. Fruit with a hard peel that isn't edible (mango, orange lemon) 2. Fruit with a hard pit (olives, dates, peaches, plums) 3. Fruit that is soft all the way through (grapes, figs) and 4. Things that come from trees that you don't necessarily eat but use (cinnamon, rosemary, bay leaves, cloves). And, for good measure we put a branch candle in the middle that Drew made a few years back. Seemed only fitting...