Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Damson Massacre

The wind stripped both plum trees last night and quite a few damsons bit the dust as well.  I'm not sure whether to be happy about this or not. 

Having spent a lot of last weekend with my husband finding innovative ways of using plums I'm not that sorry to have had the plum issue taken out of our hands.  The damsons I do feel a little guilty about.  They make amazing jam.  It tastes like warmly spiced plum all by itself and has an old-fashioned feel to it.  Damson jam means autumn and the start of my favourite time of year.

They're a horror to prepare mind you.  There is no way to de-stone the blighters.  They have to be cooked.  The stones rise to the surface and can be skimmed off.  So all the books say, and despite my misgivings, the books are right.  They do rise and you can skim them off.  It's time-consuming and my glasses steam up watching hawk-like for the rising of the stones and wielding a slotted spoon.

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