Cherry jam

I have a terrible, terrible problem. Maybe compulsion is a better word? In the summertime, when all my favorite fruits are available in abundance, I tend to go shop-happy and buy fruit in massive quantities. This is why, even after gorging myself, I still had a pound and a half of cherries left in my fridge, teetering on the brink, and in need of use before they spoiled.

It's also why I'll have a watermelon lemonade recipe to post soon . . . and something with strawberries too. What can I say? I have a problem. Anyway, cherry jam, man! So easy.

You just have to pit the cherries, cook them with some lemon juice, add sugar, and let the jam happen, man! Yeah, my recipe will be a little more detailed than that. Don't worry.

The jam is sweet and tart and goes great on homemade wheat bread, if you happen to have any of that hanging around from a late night awake because your brain won't shut down. . . . That could just be me, I guess?

Jam on, y'all!

Cherry jam

adapted from David Lebovitz

Pit about one and a half pounds of cherries. In a medium saucepan, cook the cherries down with the juice and zest of one lemon for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cherries have lost most of their structure. Add one cup sugar and raise the heat to medium-high. Boil it for about 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom constantly, so the jam doesn't stick to the bottom and burn. You want the jam to cook quickly, but you don't want it to caramelize or burn and lose its flavor. If you have a thermometer, you want the jam to reach 220F and then take it off the stove. Let it cool a bit and pour it into a jar with a lid.

This recipe makes about half a pint.