Cherry Picking Time!

The sour cherries are ripe!

So can you guess what I was doing today?

 Pitting cherries and getting them ready for jam and jelly. 

 

 This vintage cherry stoner is the best ever. 

You just put the cherries in the top and turn the crank.

The cherries and juice come out the bottom and the pits come out the end.

So much easier than pitting them by hand.

I love it!

Here are two bags of sour cherries. 

Each one will make a batch of cherry jam.

And a jar of juice for cherry jelly.

These are all going into the freezer to use later because it's 100° today and too hot to can!
I'll be picking more cherries soon to freeze for pies and another batch or two of jam and jelly.

As I was standing there turning the crank and watching the lovely cherries fill the container. I was thinking of all the other women who used this cherry pitter to do the very same thing I'm doing.
About how we are all connected to the past in many everyday ways.

   I was also thinking about how grateful I am to have an air conditioner in my kitchen and that I can put my cherries in the freezer and wait for a cooler day to make jam.
Unlike the women of the past who didn't have such luxuries.

And won't it be lovely to have a cherry pie or two this Winter when it's cold and snowy outside?
A little taste of Summer to remind me that Winter won't last forever.

If you'd like my jam recipe you can find it here:
Cherry Jam