Plum Crazy

Fruit is beautiful…..isn’t it? So many different colors and flavors and textures! I have always loved fruit. I think it may be partly because, that is what my mom craved when she was pregnant with me! Just a theory! These wild plums were picked out of my parents shelter belt on the Friday before the Labor Day Weekend. The mosquitos were horrific, but it took just a little bit of sacrifice to come up with a small box of these beauties.

Plums

-when dried are called prunes

-grown on every continent except Antarctica

-a medium plum contains 113 mg of potassium

-excellent source of vitamin C

-leading producer is China

-second most cultivated fruit in the world

I have the plums pitted and simmering to soften in the pot.

Once they are softened use a mill and extract all the pulp.

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I actually had to freeze the plup for a time until I had time to make it into plum butter. When I thawed it, there was a layer of this bright pink. It almost seemed an unnatural color but pretty none the less.

In a pot I had 8 cups of plup,

I then added 6 cups of sugar.

It boiled to 220 degrees like some recipes had called for, but this didn’t seem like it was long enough. So I boiled it some more,

And more..

Add more.

After another 45 mins for a total of just over an hour, it was the right consistency.

Because I didn’t use pectin it has a different consistency. Not jelly like, but kinda like peanut butter. Spreadable but sticky. Also, it makes you pucker a bit. Some butters get so sickenly sweet. I suppose some people would not like the tart, but I like the change. Something different!

Plum Butter

8 cups plup

6 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons lime juice

Cook for an hour or until putting a little on a spoon in the refrigerator gives you the consistency you are looking for!

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As a bird that wandereth from her nest, So is a man that wandereth from his place. Proverbs 27:8

This verse fits pretty well with how I happened upon this nest. I was wandering about the shelter belt. Just looking around and I saw a few different nests, but I thought this one was really neat because there were colorful leaves made right into the nest. My kind of bird!