Summer in a jar

Early this week I pulled some sour cherries out of the freezer. As is our yearly tradition, the cherries were picked last summer. I clearly remember that beautiful summer day. The orchard was brimming with trees bent over from the weight of the glistening fruits. Our buckets were filled in no time. In fact, we brought home so much fruit that the thought of processing all of it was simply too daunting (and this was already our second time cherry picking that summer). I made jam and pie, and we gobbled up many fresh cherries. The rest of the fruit was washed, pitted and put in the freezer for a later date.

Well that later date arrived as we just finished the very last jar of jam. All the many jars of blueberry, strawberry and sour cherry jam that I made and tucked away last summer are gone. So out came that remaining container of frozen cherries and I set to work bottling up last summer:


I love this jam. And I love the jam served atop the previous night's leftover cornbread. Here is my current favorite recipe for that:

Homesteader Cornbread (from all recipes.com)

* 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
* 2 1/2 cups milk
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

This is almost as perfect as cornbread I used to get from Bread and Circus when I lived near there. It is cake-like and a bit sweet. For dinner the other night we served the bread aside some roasted sweet potatoes and black beans simmered with onion, crushed tomato, carrot and spices. Be sure to reserve some bread to eat the next day with jam and tea.