Pip Fruit

What on earth is pip fruit? Another name for it is stone fruit. It includes fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots. Late summer brings in the crops from Otago. I ordered a big box of apricots and made some lovely jam. One evening I combined a stock pot of apricots and sugar which I cooked and stirred for a long time. My feet were tired but it was very satisfying to see the jars filled up.

Peaches have been just wonderful. Back in Chicago when I'd buy peaches they would be under-ripe. I would leave them out to ripen. Then I'd have about a one hour window in which to eat them, if they'd ripen. Many times they would just rot before they'd ripen. Here I buy peaches ripe and eat them right away. I made a peach crisp last night--peaches topped with sugar, butter, oatmeal and flour. It was scrumptious.

Our neighbor gave us a big bag of lemons. Dennis enjoys making himself lemonade. However, I seized the opportunity and made some marmalade. So I removed seeds (pips) and then cooked lemon slices, water and sugar. The result: six jars full of marmalade.

So what do I do with the jam and marmalade? Some jars are given away. We are keeping many for ourselves. A breakfast of toast with marmalade or jam and a cup of coffee or tea--it hits the spot.