When the husband went to Idaho last weekend I asked him to stop in Thorpe, WA on his way home.  There is a large fruit stand there and I wanted him to bring home sweet red cherries for me to can.  I’ve talked about where I get my canning tendencies from in a previous post.  I stopped by the grocery store the morning he was headed home and noted that they had Washington cherries for $1.99/lb.  A darn good price.  But, I was hopeful that the fruit stand would have comparable prices for a fresher product.

As I was headed home the husband called and reported that sweet reds were $2.99/lb.  Whuh?!  Yikes!  I’ll pay a little more for fresh-from-the farm, but $1/lb!  So, I turned around and returned to the grocery store and bought 8 lbs of cherries.  I was a woman on a mission.  I hadn’t intended to can cherries, but when the door opens and the price is right…I can.

Cherries are easy.  Wash, stem, pack, light syrup, 25 minutes in a hot water bath and voila!  Some people pit their cherries but, really, why would I go through all of that trouble?  When Mom would occasionally can cherries when I was a kid she never pitted them.  Why break tradition?

There’s actually not a lot to say about cherries.  This post is actually a bit of an excuse to post the pictures I took with the still-new-to-me camera.  It was my first time working with it inside.  I feel like the results were mixed.  But, I’m learning. However, another reason for this post is to tell you about what we’re doing this weekend.  You’ve perhaps heard of a little golf tournament called the US Open?  It’s being held at Chamber’s Bay this year, which just happens to be close to where we live.  Now, I personally find it confusing that the US Open is both a golf tournament and a tennis tournament, but that is neither here nor there.

The company that the husband works for has rented tent space at the tournament. And they’re serving free drink and food within this tent and there are apparently televisions within the tents and all the comforts of home (oh, and you can actually go out onto the course and watch the tournament should you choose).  Employees have been invited to attend either Saturday or Sunday.  With a spouse or significant other. That would be me.

Now, the husband and I know bupkis about golf.  Which would seem to make attending a tournament such as this a complete waste on us.  I know who Tiger Woods is, but it sounds like he’s playing horribly.  I recognize the name Phil Mickelson, but couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.  But, you know what?  It’s supposed to be 78 degrees on Saturday.  And, if you’ve ever had the privilege of going to the Chambers Bay Golf Course you know that it’s a beautiful location (they have a nice 3 mile path around the exterior of the course, which is the only reason I’ve been there).  And, as I mentioned, the food and drink are free.  Oh, and I’m hoping to see some famous Hollywood people.  Though there are no cameras allowed.  Of any kind.  That’s a bummer.

The cherries turned out great.  Well, almost great.  I got 11 pints.  2 didn’t seal, so I had to re-process them, which is always a bit of a pain, but it is what it is.  And this weekend we go to the US Open.  I have a cute outfit picked out and the husband and I intend to watch Happy Gilmore on Friday night.  That’s how we’re choosing to educate ourselves on the game of golf.  I tried to convince him that we should get matching sherbet colored polo shirts, but he’s not going for it.  Maybe another time.  He gets so touchy when there is any risk of us being matchy-matchy.