62. June 28th, 2010 Picture.

I was off on Monday, part of my 'forced' vacation, so I decided that I needed to be a little productive.  Not that sitting on the beach working on my tan ISN'T productive, I just needed to get out and do something.  Maybe put on some real clothes, take a shower, feel like a normal part of society again.  While doing our worthless shopping on our way home from Maine the day before, Ratty and I had bought 2 air tight glass jars, so I could 'make' him some vodka.  Last year for Christmas, I decided to make a gift for my family, and gave my sisters and Ratty's mom vodka steeped with fruit.  I filled up glass jars with orange slices, ginger and cranberries, then topped them off with vodka and let them sit in my basement for 3 weeks.  My sister Kate has said that she finished it and wants to bring the empty jar for a refill, I'm like a vodka filling station.  Christine just cracked hers open the other day, which I am sure made it so much more tastier since it was sitting longer, and called to tell me how awesome it was.  We joked that everyone else had laped her and were coming back for seconds and she JUST opened hers.  While the vodka was a pretty impressive gift, my mom is still talking about my wrapping.  I made big, curly ribbons from green and red grosgrain ribbon and bought big white metal tags with green and red snow flakes on them.  I made sure to put the recipe on the back of the tag, incase anyone wanted to attempt this project at home.  I was pretty impressed myself, to tell you the truth!  I set the bar high last year, how do I even come close for 2010?!  Eek.

I wanted to use fresh plums and blackberries this time around, and knew that if I went to Trader Joe's or Star Market it would cost me a pretty penny.  I decided that this would be a great time to check off one of my 101 lists and visit a farmers market to pick up supplies.  I'll try not to divulge much in this post and leave that to my actual task update, but it was so great!  I visited one I've passed on an almost weekly basis, but never thought to stop in.  I had been keeping an eye on it for almost 2 years, so I knew that if it was still open then it must be pretty good, and hadn't killed anyone, so that was good enough for me.  I was able to buy 2 packages of blackberries, 8 plums and 1 chunk of ginger and it only cost me $4!  How is that even mathematically possible?  What are the plums, like a nickel?  I don't really care if Barry made a mistake or just charges next to nothing, I walked out with all my supplies for less than $5!  I think one package of blackberries would have cost me more than that at a regular grocery store.  I think I will be paying Barry a visit much more often.  Now that we are on a first name basis of course.

I came home, washed the fruit and got to chopping.  The blackberries were so sweet and the plums were SO fresh, it was just incredible.  I obviously needed to test the fruit and was so pleased.  Nothing was sour, nothing was mushy.  Even when I sliced each plum, they were picture perfect.  The jars are now sitting in my basement, waiting for their taste test, but here is a look-see.