At first when they were developing, I thought they looked like raspberries. Then as they ripened and I was able to taste them, yep, they taste just like raspberries. Only these get huge around here, some of them were bigger than my thumb. And as we get more and more sun this month, they finally taste sun ripened and are a little sweeter than even a week ago.
These are the two types of berries I've picked in abundance so far. The red ones are a little sweeter and tast more like a berry................
The yellow are juicy but lack a distinct fruit flavor that I can tell. I made a cobbler with them and although it tasted okay...thanks to the sugar and real butter, they kind of look like baby poop when you cook them, so they don't look quite as appealing. Now that I've shared those thoughts with you, I'm sure you'll think of nothing else if you ever get the chance to try them......sorry :=)
I decided to try my hand at the jam business and when I went to the AC store yesterday, the shelf of SureJel and Certo were picked cleaner that a whale carcass around here. I went to the toy store and the last 6 boxes of Certo were being scooped up by a lovely church member and my heart sank. So I resorted to pouting and acting dejected, and she took pitty on me and let me have two boxes so I could make my jam. To Ms. Sharon I am eternally grateful and anyone who receives a jar of jam (or syrup, yet to be determined), we should all thank her.
As I sit here typing this, in the background I occasionally here a lid pop and seal. Since I've never made anything like this before and my mother was not available for a culinary consult, I am hoping this is a good sign. It sure looks pretty, looks like jam, and tasted good before I sealed the lids....time ripened the vine, then the berries, now time will tell me if my hard work and pouting paid off!!
