canning | Life on a Colorado Farm

This is my grandmother, on my father’s side, recipe.

If you make this in a small batch they will store in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.

My grandmother always water bathed, but the process does make them soft. (they will darken and get softer). I’ve even tried soaking the cherries in slack lime (like you do for pickles), although I still didn’t really like the results.

Today I rarely can them.

This recipe is for one pint-sized jar. You can easily double or triple the recipe if you wish to make more at a time.

Makes just 1 pint-sized jar

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups fresh cherries

To each jar you may add:

1 small (or piece of) cinnamon stick

4 whole allspice

I always add:

1/4 tsp. almond extract

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water and sugar. Heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring gently.

Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

Add lemon juice and vanilla and stir again.

Wash cherries, leaving on the stems, if you like. I usually don’t since I never pick the cherries with the stems. I have to hurry to beat the birds.

Pit the cherries by hand. A cherry pitter will destroy the whole look of the cherry.

Add the cinnamon, allspice and almond extract to each jar, if you are using. I have made them all ways, but always love have the extra almond extract.

Fill your jar with the pitted cherries, leaving a 3/4 inch headspace.

Pack the cherries in tightly without smashing—you want the cherries to stay whole.

Pour in the flavored syrup, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.

Use a knife and VERY gently go around the edges of the jar to dislodge any bubbles

Wipe the rim and place on the jar lid.

At this point, you can store the cherries in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks or water bath process them for longer storage.

Either way, the flavor will take at least 3 days to soak into the cherries and then they are ready to eat.

Water Bath Processing: For long-term storage, process the pint-size jar(s) in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. I don’t know how to adjust for your altitudes.

If you want me to email you the recipe, let me know.

As always your friend,

Linda

Friday was so nice Terry and I decided to get the roof on the Tile House…this is a little house that was once used to bottle milk and then became Grandma Brown’s wash house for laundry. Over the years I’ve used it for many things, now it stores all my canning, food dryers, and the freezer plus just plain “stuff” that I really need to go through and sell or give away.

We are so warm here that Terry and I worked in our shirtsleeves, in fact it was down right hot for a little while. Very unusual for this time of year, but I’ll take it. I guess, I have to take it there is nothing else to do. 🙂

By Friday night we were done! DONE! Finished on the tile house roof…do a happy dance! And very tired!

Also, on Friday half of the cows arrived; I counted 60 soon to be Momma Cows!

They have made the rounds of the whole place checking everything out—here, there and everywhere. Not stopping, but for a mouth full of this or that. Today they have sorta settled down, picking one field, over by the barns, or by the other house and staying for several hours, then moving on to another interesting spot.

Boomer and I have taken a few walks out to see how they are doing…I just love being around cows.

Today promises to be just as warm as Friday and Saturday, the sunsets are still stunning in their summer-like colors (you are looking North toward Grand Mesa) , this is the day we take off, which is always nice.