Here is what I ended up with from the 10 pounds of raspberries we picked last weekend:
- three quarts of frozen berries
- seven half-pints of jam
- three pints of jam
- several delicious handfuls along the way
I kept going on Saturday. I canned for hours and was so exhausted, miserable and whiny. It was in the low nineties so it actually felt cooler, but still, I had four burners going for eight hours.
I took a break late morning and went to a garage sale advertising plus sized clothing and free apricots. I left my large bucket in the car because I didn’t want to see too anxious, although I think my intentions were pretty transparent. I mindlessly scanned the junk for sale and then sweetly asked, “Do you still have apricots?” The nice man handed me a bag and told me to go to town. The tree carried hundreds of pounds of sweet orange fruit.
I grabbed a very unstable ladder (this always gets a pregnant woman a lot of unnecessary attention) and hiked up to the sweet spot. I began filling my wal-mart bag with fruit, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest and sweat forming tiny rivers down my legs as I strained to reach the best stash. I felt like I was racing the guy on the other side of the tree. He already had eight full bags. He was picking carelessly letting the best fruit drop twelve feet to a bruised murder.
I left with my two bags and a grin. I blanched, halved, pitted and peeled to make canned fruit in water so bug can eat them. But everything became mushy so I ended up making pureed apricots instead. Yes it is true that I am making baby food. Hey, it’s like lemons…when life gives you ill-equipped apricot halves, you make a puree. The color is amazing–it reminds me of the sunsets in Montana during fire season which is now. I still have more to make tonight.
Smoky Missoula sky below. Looking north up the Rattlesnake after a hike yesterday (left) and Mount Sentinel from the mall parking lot (right. I did indeed go to the mall yesterday and I got my new favorite shirt.)
