Today I’m processing summer fruit. Specifically
I’m making red currant jelly from the currants i picked at my sister’s patch last week.
I’m making spiced stewed fruit from a lot of peaches and plums i bought at the farmer’s market Friday.
Wish me luck.
Luck!
The notes i wrote in my cookbook say to use 3/4 cup sugar for a cup of juice, and cook to 219f “for jelly that spreads”.
I don’t seem to have left myself good notes for the stewed fruit. I added sugar. I hope i don’t regret that.
Summer fruit to me means nectarines and green grapes! Green grapes are available year-round now, so they don’t have the cachet of summer fruit. But for a flavorful, juicy nectarine, the best ones are truly only available in summer!
~VOW
I like nectarines, but the flavor is similar to peaches and plums, and they are usually as hard to slice and de-pit as plums. And they were still expensive at the shop.
Maybe I’ll do another batch later and include nectarines.
Jelly is done. Wow, it’s easier since i bought that thermopen. It might not come out perfect (or maybe it will) but boy, it’s easier to stick the thermopen in and read it than it is to either fuss with my old candy thermometer or drop bits on a plate to test for jelling.
I did add too much sugar to the fruit, i should make notes and use half as much next year (not none). I added a healing spoonful of citric acid, which helped offset the sweetness. Still cooking that a bit longer.
My mom cans jams all summer long, as different fruits go in and out of season. We had a great crop of cherries and serviceberries, and she’s finished most of those, but it looks like a bad year for raspberries (black and red): They’re all drying up on the plant before they ripen. Probably too hot and/or dry.
So far I’ve made pickled peaches, peach bbq sauce, peach margarita jam, peach blood orange jam, duck sauce, and peach daiquiri jam.
I had a lot of peaches.
If tomatoes count as fruit (and they should according to botanists!), I’ve made tomato soup and vodka sauce so far. More to come.
I’ll push the envelope a little further and say I’ve also made hot sauce from some of the chili peppers I’ve got so far. I may also dry and grind some of the cayennes.
I count tomatoes as a summer fruit to process. Or a summer vegetable. Both are nice to enjoy in the summer, and to preserve for the winter.
Tomatoes are definitely a summer crop, and they’re the main ingredient in my favorite jam. But where are you that you’re getting them already (and more than you can consume fresh, at that)? Around here, we won’t have any for another month.
As long as local peaches are available, I toss a few on the grill most nights. I halve then, then grill cut side down until they’re softening and have nice grill marks. Then flip them over and put some local honey in the depression. Mmmmmmm
Good luck with your summer fruit work!
Our backyard raspberry bushes are going like gangbusters - we may actually have to trim them back, something unimaginable for us just a few years ago. We love raspberries!
I’m in North Carolina and I’ve got tomatoes out the wazoo. I grow them on my back deck.
I didn’t get many from my canes this year (plus some got stolen by varmints), but there is nothing better than a bowl of fresh-picked raspberries.
Would have been nice to learn that any time earlier than literally an hour after I got back from a trip to North Carolina 
. We should have found some farmers’ market to stop at before we left.
You could have stopped by and I’d have given you some for free!