Why can't I read an Orthodox Callander?

I went shopping the day before yesterday. I got ham, butter, 5 doz eggs, milk was on sale, so I bought two gallons. Polish sausages. Cheese. Then I was reminded about the Dormition Fast.

Sigh.

One would think I would know what pink days mean.

The best blueberry pie EVER. Heck, the best summertime desert ever!

The other day, I went blueberry picking. I found this great place in Lynden, about 12 miles from my house. I 40 minutes or so, a friend and I picked 14 pounds of berries. And you can't beat the price at 1.50 a pound (at least until my three blueberry plants grow up.) So, what did I do with this bounty? A bunch went with the friend (I kept most, cause I paid for it) and most went into the freezer to be turned into jam when the weather turns sane again (95+ for the last three days or so. Its 'only' supposed to get to 85 today.) A large bowl is in my fridge for fresh eating.

But I made two of Kathleen Jones' fantabulous fresh blueberry pies. They are easy as heck, light, nothing bad in them.

I put them in a store-bought Graham cracker crust, and topped with canned whipped cream instead of making the cream cheese-whipping cream topping.

So, in a pot, whip together 1 cup water, i packet unflavored gelatin, 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/2 cup sugar. heat until it turns from cloudy to clear. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and remove from heat. Do not let it boil. Add four cups fresh blueberries. Stir, put into the pie crust and refrigerate until it's set. It took me longer to type the directions than it took to make two of the pies!

Misadventures with Cherry Jam

OK, I will try this one last time without the pictures I took. I cannot get the pictures to go where I want them. This is one of those better late than never posts

A few weeks ago was the height of the cherry season, and I picked about 30 pounds of cherries off my tree. Most were pitted, bagged and frozen. They will be canned when the weather turns cool. A lot were eaten, or given away, and, as usual, I could not even reach the top half of the tree, so another 20 to 30 pounds of cherries were eaten by the birds or rotted on the tree.

But I did make two jams, Spiced Orange Cherry Jam, and a variation I made up called Citrus Cherry Raisin Jam

For the original jam, I ran out of sugar, and had to substitute brown sugar. I still came up about 2 cups short, so it didn't jell like it was supposed to. So I added a bag of powdered pectin and it came out really good. It was not overly sweet like so many jams are.

The next night, after I bought regular and light sugar, I tried it again. This time, I substituted a half pound of the cherries for a half pound of raisins. I put in three cups each of regular and brown sugar. It came out tasting real good. The only problem is, I spaced on checking the temperature (jams jell at 224 F) and I let it get to 236 F, which is closer to CANDY temperatures. So now, I have seven jars of tasty stuff that is too hard to use as a jam, and too soft to call a candy.

The Labrecque Clan Emerges

Wow! in the space of a couple of days, Ben, Cyp, and I all decide to post!?! What are the chances. Naomi, of course has been regular on her blog, of course.

And no, this is not the blog I was wanting to post. I just got to my blog, and saw that my younger siblings had posted.