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Chuck Hinman, IJMA 033: Cherry Canning His family didn't have an orchard. But cherries from a you-pick farm nearby provided thousands of cherries - thousands to be meticulously pitted by small hands The next earlier Chuck Hinman story What I Miss Most Is Chuck Hinman your favorite Sunday with CM columnist, as many tell us? If so, we hope you'll drop him a line by email. Reader comments to CM are appreciated, as are emails directly to Mr. Hinman at: charles.hinman@sbcglobal.net By Chuck Hinman When I was growing up in the 1920's and 30's, we always had a large garden but we didn't have an orchard as some did. The only fruit tree we had and most people considered it as a "nothing tree" - a mulberry tree. About all it was good for was for the birds to stuff on its fruit and make a terrible stain on everything, including the laundry drying on the nearby clothes line. There was a Vernon family in Blue Springs, Nebraska who had several huge cherry trees in their back yard. They lived on the road that connected Wymore and Blue Springs, Nebraska. They lived a short distance north of the CB&Q railroad tracks that divided the two towns. The trees were large for cherry trees. The Vernons allowed people to come in and harvest cherries for their personal use. I'm sure there was a charge. The trees were so large you had to use large step ladders. Kids who were part monkeys enjoyed climbing the trees for the harder to get cherries on the inside limbs. When we got home with the cherries, the work had just begun and Mom used all the free kid-help she could muster. That included me, brother Bob, and sister Joy Ann. I don't know how Dad escaped but I suppose he was busy farming. The job was to remove the stem and seed-pit from each cherry, thousands of them it seemed! You started by filling a large pan with the cherries, immersed them in water to remove the dust and small debris. Then you began the tedious work of pulling off the stem. The stem was about an inch long. Next you "squished" each cherry to remove the seed or pit as it was called. The pit was the size of a large bee-bee if you know what that is. If you chomped down on one that missed being removed, it would cripple your mouth for awhile! Smile if you can! The trick was to not mangle the cherry in the process, losing the yummy juice of each cherry. This pitting process was something at which you became adept with practice. Mom was a skilled housewife and serious enough about the job that she didn't turn us loose as babes helping her. She wanted the cherries to look and taste good when she finished canning them. We're talking about a couple bushels of those little babies that canned up 40-60 quart-jars of cherries for our food cave that looked like a grocery store. She wasn't in to showing her canned wares at the county fair, although she was an expert at canning. She would have considered that was for show-offs. She took her pride in going to the cave each day and gathering her handiwork for her family's daily fare. She wanted the "blue-ribbons" offered by her doting family! Thanks Mom. You're the best in our books! In later years, my folks acquired a mechanical pitter but Mom didn't use it very much because it mangled the cherries losing most of the good juice. I see they are even available on eBay! After the pitting was completed, the kids job was done and Mom did the canning by herself. I wish I could write with knowledge about that but I can't. Suffice it to say that she added a lot of sugar to the pitted cherries. She canned the cherries in one-quart jars which tells you that it took a lot of cherries to fill a quart Ball or Mason jar! Although it is not true, it seemed like we had cherries once a day. Mom would open a quart jar of cherries, put them in a large bowl on the table. We had smaller bowls for our individual serving to go with fresh home made cookies for dessert. Those cherries now would seem like an elegant and healthy dessert here at Tallgrass Estates but I guess because we had them so often, they seemed common place and we would complain "Oh no, Mom, not cherries AGAIN!" Of course, Mom could, and did make cherry cobblers and cherry pies with a lattice top crust. She had done that so often, I believe she could do that with her eyes closed! Pass the cherries. Yummy Tummy!! This story was posted on 2010-07-04 04:08:44
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Chuck Hinman - Reminiscences:
Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 139: What I Miss Most Chuck Hinman, IJMA 008: My First Dance Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 88: The Grocery Cart Story Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 022: Teenagers: Where Do They Fit? Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 014: My Running Days Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 013: Funniest Weddings Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 015: Small Town Cemeteries Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 066: A forgotten gesture? Chuck Hinman, IJMA No. 196: Changing Oil Chuck Hinman, IJMA 330: Cow tales View even more articles in topic Chuck Hinman - Reminiscences |
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