Little Red Hen

I have spent the past week playing with my family. Our whole family was together, with the exception of my little brother Jace, who arrives home from his mission September 30th, 6:04 p.m. (But who's counting?) Anyway, this family reunion prompted me to be all Mormony. My sister, my mom, and I decided to make homemade jam.

Now usually I make freezer jam, because I am pretty skilled when it comes to stirring. If you've ever made freezer jam, you know that all you do is stir the ingredients together, pour the jam in containers, and pop them in the freezer. This is the extent of my home canning, because other types of canning requires a little something I call "effort." I would much rather lay on the couch and read my book while ignoring my children. But somehow, this whole Mormon canning adventure appealed to me, so I decided to try it.

First we picked the cherries. Very fun.

Then we cleaned the cherries, pitted the cherries, pureed the cherries, pulled the pits we missed out of the cherry puree, sugared and cooked the jam, poured it in the bottles, applied lids, rings, and then plunged it in the canner for a hot water bath. This took something called "time." I felt like the Little Red Hen, by the end of the process. If only I'd grown the cherry tree myself....

Now, surprisingly, this did not suck. My sister, my mom, and I were having a fun time. We were like jean wearing pioneers. If we'd been singing, "As Sisters in Zion," I'm sure our eternal salvation would have been a done deal.

To finish on a sweet note--the cherry jam I had for breakfast this morning was so yummy. Totally worth the effort. And now I think I hear a book calling me.....