The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on August 01, 2008, 07:59:09 AM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x47386
This has got some good photographs, so it's well worth hauling out the boat and rowing over to Skins's island for a look-see.
eleny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-31-08 08:50 PM
Original message
Manchu Cherry Jam
I looked all over this place and couldn't find my old waterbath canner. It's 31 years old so I didn't mind getting a new one. But it's a mystery how a pot that size can go missing. Luckily, I found another at the nearby Ace Hardware.
We have had volunteer Manchu Cherries coming up behind our garage. I was going to let the birds have them all but decided to grab a potful and make something. After cooking the cherries there was 9 1/2 cups of cherry juice/sauce. I used Splenda for sweetener and the flavor is good. These cherries have a great aftertaste of sour that comes through after the initial sweetness. It should be good on toasted bagel with cream cheese.
There's a jar and 1/2 in the fridge. They didn't fit in the canner. I think the color is a little lighter than my snapshot. I see that I missed a drip on the stove.
after which a photograph
You know, the house where I spent my childhood, alongside the calm placid laid-back Platte River of Nebraska, had a grove of cherry trees in the backyard. There must have been more than 20 cherry trees there.
They produced blossoms that outnumberered everything else in the whole world.
I suspect they were German cherries, though.
hippywife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-31-08 08:55 PM
Response to Original message
1. I've never heard of manchu cherries.
The jam sounds really tasty, tho. I love having homemade jam in the house. Little bit of summer all year long.
eleny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-31-08 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. I didn't know about them, either, until they started putting out fruit this year
It's also called a Nanking Cherry. They're small, tart cherries, and have large pits for their size.
Here's a pic I took when the fruit started turning red. The fruit grows in clusters along the branches.
after which more photographs
Husb2Sparkly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-31-08 10:41 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. Omigawd! We have a tree like that right outside our basement slider
It was a 'weed' tree that just showed up a few springs ago. It looks so pretty in bloom and is out of the way right next to our brook. I know the birds love it. I never thought to try the fruit.
eleny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-31-08 11:26 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. The original volunteer never fruited
I didn't have the heart to cut it down. I guess it sent out roots around the corner where there's more water. Now there are a couple over there and they went wild with fruit this year.
I cooked the cherries after washing and using veggie wash. Then I put them in a regular sieve with the handle one ladle at a time and worked them over with the wooden potato masher to push the pulp through. It was the only way to deal with the pits since the cherries are small. I lost a lot of pulp but I didn't know what else to do. 9 1/2 cups of pulp seems enough.
My Sure Jell may have been old because it's not going to set up perfectly. The ones in the fridge seem to be thickening, however I don't think it'll attain a true jam consistency. But the tangy/sweet flavor is different from anything I've ever had before. I'm very happy and look forward to trying it on the toast. I think it would be great to spread on a slice of angel food cake with fat free Cool Whip on top.
Husb2Sparkly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-01-08 12:38 AM
Response to Reply #4
5. I'm not much of a jam and jelly maker, but I wonder ......
.... if the lack of sugar somehow affected how it set up?
BTW, I love your little jelly jars. Our neighbor makes all sorts of jams and jellies every year and uses the same ones. Then we get a half dozen every Christmas. Yeah, they're sugared, but oh-so-good and many are exotic combinations with wild fruits and berries they collect when they go camping.
hippywife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-01-08 08:33 AM
Response to Reply #4
7. How long has it been sitting?
There have been times I've thought mine wasn't going to gel but it always did. I've never used Splenda before, tho. This last time I used the no-sugar needed pectin and half the normal amount of sugar. It came out fine and my husband loves it. I think it's good, too, just missing that small sparkle on the tongue the full sugar varieties give you.
You know, the hippowife primitive, like the warped primitive, would be okay, if she just discarded her silly notions about politics.
pinto DU Moderator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Aug-01-08 02:55 AM
Response to Original message
6. Sounds great. I love sweet/tart...we've a half mile of wild berries along the railroad right-of-way near my house. Blackberries? Huckleberries? I'm going picking this weekend. It'll be a muffin and pancakes Sunday. Or cooked down with honey and ginger for a ham glaze.
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I love homemade jelly/jam. My aunt makes delicious mayhaw jelly every year. mmmm :)