The winter larder

Fruit in Paxson is a problem. Produce in Fairbanks is marginal at best, and often as not looks fine in the store and then is rotten two days after we get it back home. Fairbanks is the end of the line for produce transport from the lower-48, and it shows. So this summer I decided to hook up with a special fruit supplier that a friend recommended to me, a supplier whose first stop is Alaska directy from California. My first delivery not too long ago I got 16 pounds of Rainier cherries, a crate of apricots, and half a crate of peaches....just to try it all out. What heaven! Fruit not spoiling, ripening on schedule, and so juicy and full of taste...It reminds me of life when I lived outside the state and good fruit is a given.

So we've nearly become fruitarians this last week, gobbling all this yummy fruit. Even with the small order I got, we are over-run, especially with cherries. So once again, thoughts have turned to winter and preserving this wonderful fruit. My first try with cherries is to freeze them. Here I was dunking them in cold water to preserve juice, cutting them in half to remove the pit which can lend an off-flavor if kept intact, then dunking the cherries in lemon juice diluted in water to prevent browning. I then freeze them flat on baking sheets so they are individually frozen, and then into freezer bags they go. Of course, after doing this for a few hours Audie came in the house and told me there is a cherry pitter in the back recesses of the top cupboard, one I had never seen. Will be doing some more bags today and will definitely save time instead of cutting them in half. 

I'll be getting more fruit deliveries, and hopefully our wild blueberry and raspberry season will be good this year too. 

And here's a quick shot of our first tour group breakfast in the Gathering Room. Thank you, Big Birders! It was a pleasure to host your group.