We are finally finished processing all of the cherries that I bought a couple weeks ago.  The last recipe that we made was cherry pie filling.  I am looking forward to using this pie filling in the winter when the sky is dark and rainy to remember that summer is coming and it will be wonderful.

Below is the recipe we used for this pie filling.

Makes 1 quart

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cherries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoon Clear Jel
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Wash and pit the cherries
Place into a pot of boiling water, blanch for 1 minute and drain
Put the hot cherries into a bowl and cover

Mix together the sugar and Clear Jel.
Slowly add water, constantly whisking so that the Clear Jel can dissolve
Add the spices and heat over medium-high until sugar mixture is dissolved and mixture starts to bubble
Add the lemon juice and boil for 1 minute

Remove from the heat and gently stir into the cherries.
Pour into jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Process in water bath for 35 minutes then cool on the counter for 24 hours.

We ended up with quite a few bubbles in the pie filling, but not bad for our first attempt.

Of course all cooking is better with wine!  I’m going to be sad when all of this wine is gone (we already finished all of the 2009)

We ended up with 3 quarts of the pie filling which equates to 3 yummy pies.  I hope some of you try canning this summer, these smaller batches can easily be completed in a couple hours.

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