Jam I Am

We've had a very weird cool spring that has rolled into an atypical summer.  Just in the last few days, it has gotten HOT, which is not uncommon - we just usually ease in a bit more gradually.

As a result of this weather, our apricot tree has produced a bountiful crop of teeny cots that collectively decided to vacate the tree at the exact same hour.  If you stood in the yard, it was almost like an apricot rain.  The dog thought this was fabulous, as he loves to eat fruit and couldn't reach the apricots as well as he could the cherries. He also likes to roll in them.

This morning I finished up a second bout of apricot jamming, which followed closely on the heels of a big batch of currant jam and from the previous week, Rainier cherry jam. It came out fantastically tart and yummy.  I contemplated trying to use the cherry pitter the cots were so small!  (BTW: I use 10 cups chopped fruit, 1 box regular pectin, 1 box no sugar pectin, and 8 cups of sugar.) 

We eat a lot of jam - I put a big blob on plain yogurt in the morning and the kids are great toast and PBJ munchers. A side benefit of the weather being hot is that I can start making yogurt outside too.