7-14-10

POLLY WANT A CRACKER?

WHAT DESSERT CAN I BAKE WITH THESE?

GOLDEN GOOSEBERRIES

RED GOOSEBERRIES

PICK A GOOD ONE!

SOUR CHERRIES

DAMN THAT LOOKS GOOD

DAMN, THAT LOOKS BETTER!

Today was a dream day in the eyes of us WWOOFers. Since our trip began, all we've wanted was to harvest fruit. In the winter we realized that was impossible, but all spring and summer we've been waiting and waiting. Due to the cold and wet weather we've faced everywhere, fruit has been slow to ripen. We've enjoyed a few nibbles here and there, but there hasn't been any substantial production. Today, that all changed.

We kicked off the day by harvesting three types of gooseberries. Gooseberries are a tart, fairly sour fruit that ripens into either a light green/golden, red, or nearly purplish-black. The darkest variety are a hybrid of gooseberries and currants. Biting into ones that aren't ripe nearly makes your mouth pucker, but even the ones that are ripest are just almost sweet. We find the best thing to do with sour-ish fruit is to add sugar and turn them into jam or bake them! Having made salmonberry jam at Green Angel Gardens, a pie was next on the list.

There are also two cherry trees here, one with sweet cherries and one with sour cherries. Two days before our arrival, the birds ate every single last sweet cherry off the tree! Jerks. However, there were plenty of sour cherries they left for us, so our next task was to harvest these. This was a bit more challenging only because we had to climb a ladder on uneven ground to reach the cherries while the wind was blowing us around. We safely picked our way through the tree and came out with over four pounds of cherries! Unlike the gooseberries, none of these cherries are almost sweet; they are so sour you nearly have to spit them out if you attempt to eat one. With all this fruit, there was only one thing left to do: make two pies!

Jen loves to bake, as we all know by now. However, as we travel from kitchen to kitchen, it is often hard to bake in new places, without the tools she likes and is used to. Since we are traveling "lightly" we didn't pack the loads of recipes we have or our favorite cookbooks, so it is often an additional challenge to always have to reinvent a recipe. New recipes and unfamiliar tools are hurdles we've managed to overcome, and our cooking and baking is all the better because of the adversity. We are turning out great stuff, according to everyone who eats what we prepare. We just imagine that when we have our own kitchen, hopefully someday soon, we will be able to hone our culinary skills even further.