Cherry Mousse.

I got around to doing something with our cherries the other day. I made a big bowl of cherry mousse! It was quite simple, although physically trying. First I pitted and pureed our cherries.



Then I added some sugar and lemon zest to the puree.



Over on the other side I made whipped cream. By hand. With a whisk. I figure I got my upper body workout in with that one too. It probably took me about 15 minutes of 3-4 beats per second (with a few breaks) to get soft peaks forming in the cream.



Then I folded it all together and let it chill together for a couple hours. It was a nice light, sweet and tart dessert for an anti-summer day.



Unfortunately we didn't have enough cherries to make the caramelized cherry surprise that the recipe suggested. Maybe next summer will be better for the trees. Oh, and for all you folks anywhere is the US except here - we're hitting a balmy 71 degrees today. I think summer got called off...

Life is just a (giant) bowl of cherries.

The cherry harvest has begun. Oh. my. God. There are so many cherries. I knew there were a lot of cherries on that tree, but I had no idea. I was actually worried to begin that we wouldn't be able to reach so many of them because the tree is too tall and our ladder is too short. I had no reason to worry. One afternoon of picking cherries, mostly from what we could reach on our own, and some from a ladder yielded a gigantic bowl of cherries. It must be about 10 or 12 pounds. I really should get a scale. I even thought this bowl would go fast....but it's not.

Anyway, I should start at the beginning. We finally figured out the variety of cherry we have. It's a Montmorency cherry, which is one of the most popular sour cherries for pies and preserves. It's not that sour though, just a little tart. You can still eat them on their own and they are tasty.

On Sunday afternoon I went outside and starting picking with wild abandon; I wanted to get all the ripe cherries off the tree that I could. Then I would just start canning it and making pies, right?

On Monday I rushed out in the morning to get on the canning wagon and got myself a book, The Complete Book of Home Preserving, and a set of canning supplies including a gigantic stock pot that fits over two stovetop burners with a wire jar-holder thing, a jar lifter, jars, some cheesecloth, some pectin and a cherry pitter.

Cherry pitters are like the coolest thing ever. Last summer Mike and I went to a u-pick cherry farm and we pitted our cherries with a nail. This is way better.

I decided to start off with some jam. It seemed like the easiest thing to make given that this is my first try at canning and preserving. I pitted the cherries needed for the recipe and only then realized just how many cherries we had. I still have all the cherries on the left sitting in my fridge waiting for me to do something with them. It only took the little bit on the right to make 5 - 8 ounce jars of jam.

And then there was jam.

Today I need to get back in there before the cherries go bad and make a pie....and I think I'm going to make a big batch of pie filling and can that for later. Suddenly my life went from spending three hours in the kitchen everyday to six. Sheesh.

As a side note, Mike just came in the house with one of the “apricots” and said they are starting to turn red and he thinks they are red plums. Or maybe they are nectarines. We just don't know. You will have to come back for the exciting conclusion. It might take a couple months though.....I can hardly wait!

Apricots?!

No one knew what the fruit trees were on the lot when I bought the house. We knew they were fruit trees, but didn't know what for sure. We figured out the pear and the apple pretty quickly and I think we found some cherry pits on the ground around the cherry tree, and the last we assumed was a plum tree. It looked kinda like a plum tree and the plum trees at the Food Bank garden seemed to confirm this. They were growing about the same rate, in about the same pattern. So, we figured apple, pear, cherry and plum.

Well, as time has passed those plums aren't turning very purple. In fact, they are starting to look an awful lot like apricots. I do believe we have an apricot tree on our hands.

The cherry tree is really just about ready to start harvesting. We have been able to eat a few of the cherries right off the tree and they are pretty gosh-darn tasty. They aren't any Bing cherry.....but, that's OK.

The garden goes on without me.

Well, I'm back. In my time away I got to visit a few friends' and family's gardens. I spent almost the entire time out of the kitchen (with the exception of making my now patented guacamole). I flew 3,000 miles and drove over 1,000. With my first day back in Portland I am jumping back into it with lots of veggie harvesting, weed pulling, garden cleaning, baking and cooking.

I'll have to write about my travels later as my garden exploded while I was gone!

Have you ever seen spinach bolt? Neither had I. Check it out. Aaaah!

I spent this afternoon pulling all the giant spinach stalks out of the garden and harvesting the leaves I could. This gave me two giant bowls packed full of spinach, most of which I am going to freeze to enjoy over the summer. Mike already harvested and froze another giant bag of spinach while I was gone.

There are broccolis now! I find the broccoli plants a little annoying, because for the little heads that are on it right now the plants are about 20 times bigger. I'm hoping the harvest from these guys is worth the space they take up.

There are tomato flowers!

I need to find a recipe for chard soon.

The carrot tops look like real carrot tops now instead of whispy little weeds like they did before I left.

Lettuces are doing great. We are going to have to start having salads more often.

The peas are perhaps the most exciting. Before I left they were just starting to grow and I was afraid I would miss out on all the fresh peas. Boy, was I wrong. There is a container in the freezer already of fresh picked peas from when I was gone, and I went out today and harvested another big batch. I ate one and just about fell over. It was one of those moments when you realize you have never had a pea before in your entire life. You have only had some bastardized, dumbed-down version of a pea that is a mass produced and sold in a bag. My eyes have been opened. I love peas.

Some of the cherries are already starting to turn red. We think they might be Rainier cherries, which is a little disappointing since we both love Bing cherries. Damn.

The herbs are taking off and doing well.

Look, ma! My cilantro is big!

I'm going to have to make some Mexican food soon so I can put some more seed in the pot. Is there a Mexican dish with chard, spinach and peas? Hmmm....

I'm especially happy to be home because I get to see this every day again.

Until next time when I will cover Texas Gardens: part deux, Colorado gardens and riding horses is the rain.