Hot, So Hot, Sticky Sweet. . .

Pardon me for a moment while I go hunt down my Def Leppard CD and pop it into the player. . .

Okay, now I'm ready to write this post!  Well, maybe one more quick distraction; I'm somewhat amused to note, as I retrieved the above mentioned music disc from it's alphabetized location, that it sits on the shelf between Charlie Daniels and John Denver.  Yes, I'm a bit eclectic in my musical tastes. :0)  You can also find Cheap Trick and Mark Chestnut, as well as Alabama and Apocalyptica, Tim McGraw and Steve Miller, Eric Clapton and Patsy Cline, Lorrie Morgan and Motley Crue.

Anyway. . . Today is one of the most hot and humid days we've had so far this summer.  And, of course, on such a hot and humid day I have spent most of my time in the kitchen, canning.

Today's canning chore is peaches. I bought a whole bushel of them last weekend when I was over to the west side of the state, helping DD1 move into her new apartment. The west coast of Michigan is lush with orchards, in case you didn't know.  Because of Lake Michigan running up the entire west coast, it is a little bit warmer in the winter and early spring than the rest of Michigan, and that micro climate is awesome for growing fruit.

Case in point: my peach trees did not even blossom this year.  In fact, I totally lost one to the frigid winter we had, and a second tree only leafed out on half it's branches.  Locally, the peach crop is nil.  On the west side, however, peach harvest is underway and appears to be a good year.

So, being the peach lover that I am (and remembering my dismal experience with peaches bought at the grocery store summer of 2012 when we also did not have a peach crop at this little place here--or anywhere else in my area of Michigan's lower middle), when I realized I would be heading west--WEST!-- with a Suburban load of DD1's furniture and other belongings, I decided I must bring back peaches. Cuz if I'm going there anyways, I may as well take advantage of the abundance of fruit over there.

I also bought a quart box of red plums, because my little plum tree isn't bearing yet and I can't seem to find an orchard with plums in the vicinity of this little place here.  I love red plums too, but only fresh from an orchard.  The ones from the store are pretty blah.

I had intended to can up the entire bushel of peaches today.  Until I started getting out supplies this morning and found that

1. I'm low on wide mouth pint jars (my preferred jar size and style for peaches) and 
2. I'm almost out of sugar.  

I altered my plans somewhat, and canned up what I had supplies for, which turned out to be 6 quarts and 20 pints.  I'll do the rest in a day or two, after I make a run for more jars and more sugar.

Meanwhile, my kitchen feels as hot as a blast furnace, I'm soaked with sweat, and the floor is sticky from peach juice dripping on it. But it smells so good, so peachy and sweet, that I can't help singing along with Def Leppard "I'm hot, so hot, sticky sweet. . ."