Getting Squirrley

Yeah, I don't think squirrley is really a word but it accurately describes the process we go through each summer to prepare for winter.  Fortunately we can get most food items that we need throughout the winter but some things we can't so we take time to can during the summer.  So far we've done all our jam and next month we'll do tomato sauce.  It's a bit of work but I have help and it's so worth it in the winter when I can just go in the closet and get what I need.

Here's what we've gotten so far...

1.  Apricot spread- this is made with apricots and sugar and doesn't have pectin so it doesn't harden up.  Most locals can this and Drew really likes it so we made some.  We have 3 of those large (quart-size) jars.

2.  Sour cherry jam- This is our favorite of all the jams and something we'd never had until we came here.  The tartness of the cherries just makes this so amazingly delicious.  We love it!  It is a TON of work though because the cherries are tiny and you have to pit them.  It is a labor of love.  We have 4.5 pints of this.

3.  Raspberry jam- This is the easiest of the jams to make and is also delicious because of the tartness of the berries, as a result we have 7 pints of this jam.

4.  Apricot jam- We made a few small jars of this jam just to have some more variety.  it is also quite tasty!  We have 4.5 pints of this type.

I'm excited to have our jamming done for the season and looking forward to getting our tomatoes done as well so we can say we're ready for winter...food-wise at least!