Plums and Watermelon

I've still been drawn to preserving. With the 13lb of plums, we ate probably half. So even though I wasn't sure I'd like it, I made plum jam and plum jelly. They both are pretty good. A lot more peach-like than I'd thought. The jam is just plain plum from the Certo pack, the jelly was vanilla plum or cardamom vanilla plum. The jam is good, though nothing outstanding. The jellies taste great, but I overcooked them while testing, so they're a little rubbery. I'm learning :)

Vanilla Cardamom Plum Jelly
Cook down the plums with water to cover and approximately 8 green cardamom pods for every 4 lb plums. Strain the juice. Use 3/4 c sugar to 1 c juice and boil til it sets, then add 1 tsp vanilla for every 4 c juice.


I also made watermelon candy/watermelon pickles because I'd heard that my grandma used to make them. They never got great reviews in the retelling. But then I heard they were mentioned in one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and that made them seem even more romantic. So I tried these. Who knows what I may have done wrong, but for all the sugar in them, they just were not great. My two-year-old liked them enough to eat a few pieces (again, all the sugar). The five-year-old wouldn't touch it (I couldn't blame her). And my husband who is crazy generous in the reviews said,"It tastes like a kind of candy, but I can't place it. It's not something you get in a store." (ha!!) Funnily enough as I was looking at the jars in the condiment aisle the other day, they actually had watermelon pickles in stock. Amazing.