My friend John stopped by yesterday. A visit from John during harvest is like fishing at the beach when the Blues are running. It can be a very bountiful experience.  John, and his father Fred, operate a 1,000 acre farm in Bland County. In one fell swoop, I have more produce to deal with than our tiny little garden will produce all season . I have a tightly packed, plastic grocery bag each of: heirloom tomatoes, yellow and green bell peppers, and yellow crooked-necked squash. I guess I should brush up on my preserving, cough, “skills”.

If you recall, I wrote a post last month about blackberries. I ended it by promising to tell you how my first attempt to make jelly turned out. Well……. I have a half-dozen jars of really tasty pancake syrup. I won’t go into details, but when the directions state the exact ratio of fruit, sugar, and pectin, they aren’t just making  suggestions. Being a creative chef is not a plus in this situation. Though, if you didn’t know better, you’d think I did it on purpose. The wild blackberry syrup I ended up with is delicious on pancakes. Who’s to know? I did it on purpose. Yeah, that’s the ticket! Anyone can make blackberry jelly, but I really like the syrup on pancakes.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.