Judith Hudson's Blog, page 3

Meet the women of Romance Gems.

Come on over to Romance Gems for a month of contests and prizes! I’m thrilled to have joined Romance Gems, recently expanded to include 23 romance authors in a variety of sub-genres. We are launching our new website February 1st, 2019. There will be contests and giveaways all month long, including a grand prize of […]

The Cover Nerd comes out of the closet

l’m a self-proclaimed cover nerd, which probably stems from my fine arts background . My daughter Rosey, a marketing maven, and I work together to create my covers and last month we went wild changing the covers on most of the books of the series. It started with Home for Christmas. I loved the dramatic […]

Cover Confusion

Looking back on 2018 – well, it’s been a crazy year. Despite The Big Move, I managed to publish three books, two that were already mostly written, Starting Over (Fortune Bay) and Temple of the Jaguar (Rocky and Bernadette Mystery #1), and the last Fortune Bay book (I think) Starlight and Tinsel, that I did […]

Cremona

I’m on a virtual journey with Rocky and Bernadette, my mystery protagonists, to Cremona, a city in northwestern Italy that I love. My husband is in the violin business so it’s no coincidence we’ve been to The home of Stradivarius numerous times and there are still over 100 violin makers in the ancient city. I […]

New covers!

It’s been a few years so I’m changing a few of the original Fortune Bay covers to bring the series more in line with other small town romance series. I want readers to know what they’re getting and yes, pic out my books to try! So ta-da! The new beta covers for Summer of Fortune […]

A new Fortune Bay Christmas Novella!

Get this 100+ page Christmas novella on Amazon.  (Only 99 ¢) I’m excited to get this book out in time for Christmas! I know, that should be a given, this being a Christmas story and all, but this has been a difficult year in a lot of ways. First we had the big move […]

One giveaway after another

This summer has been one giveaway after another for me. This time I’m participating in a giant Bookfunnel Giveaway with 60 books to choose from.   Contemporary and historical, small town to billionaire romance, with 60 clean romances to choose from, there’s bound to be something for you. I like these Bookfunnel Giveaways because they […]

Sweet Summer Giveaway

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Brandied Cherries

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Email[image error]My state of the art cherry pitter.

For years we had a big – I mean BIG – cherry tree, but eventually it fell to disease and we had to chop it down and plant another. That one didn’t reach maturity before we had to move, but by then I was hooked on having a freezer full of cherries. Now every year I wait like a cougar in a tree for the prices to drop: $6.99, $4.99, $3.99, then, finally last week, $2.99 a pound and I pounced!

[image error]Judy sneaking cherries

The California cherries are the first, then Washington state, then finally, fresh BC cherries from the Okanagan Valley, the inland, fruit and wine producing region of the province.  Sweet, dark and Juicy, this year they are very BIG – almost too big for my doubled barrel cherry pitter. Yes, I’m serious about my cherries.

I usually freeze them with a dusting of sugar (don’t judge me!) but this year I seemed to hear about brandied cherries at every turn. “Too much trouble,” I thought, but they did sound good – Christmas gifts, I rationalized – and I soon found myself in the liquor store, looking at Brandy.

“Use a brandy you would want to drink,” the recipe cautioned. But I knew I wouldn’t want to drink any of it. Then I saw the Sliivovica (pronounced Slivovi-ch-a) and was flooded with fond memories of travelling in Eastern Europe where every generous host brings out the Sliivovica. Not good tasting! But as a woman I could gracefully decline, and our Czech friend Peter could say he was driving, but my poor husband always had to drink a glass with the host – even at breakfast!

[image error]Those were the days.

So I bypassed the fancy French brandy and bought the bottle of the crystal clear Croatian Plum Brandy, the only brand of Sliivovica they sold. Peter had told us how as children, in plum season, they would collect prune plums on the way home from school and drop them in a barrel fermenting in the shed on the way into the house so their dad could make his own Sliivovica. We visited his house, family compound really, in a small Czech town where his Aunt and cousin’s family still live, and I could just picture it.

So I bought the bottle, and then was plagued with doubt as to whether it would work in my recipe. And, like most of my cooking attempts it had quickly become my recipe.

But oh my goodness! I tasted a bit of the liquor after boiling the cherries in it with the sugar, cinnamon stick and cloves and wow! It’s going to be amazing! Now if I can just wait the prescribed 4 – 6 weeks.

I might have to buy another bottle and make another batch. The cherries will be around for at least another week.

Let me know how yours turn out!

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Brandied Cherries

These preserved sweet cherries pack a wallop! Perfect on ice cream for desert.



CuisineChristmas Recipes, Preserving the Harvest, Sweet Treats





Servings6-7 1/2 pint jars

Prep Time1 hour

Cook Time10 minutes

Passive Time4 -6 weeks







Ingredients








1 1/2 lb. cherrieslb.

sweet black cherriespitted and stemmed

3 cup

brandy750 ml. or 25 oz US

3/4cup

white sugar

3/4 cup

brown sugar

1 stick

cinnamon

1whole

clove










Instructions









Pit and stem cherries and place in a large glass bowl.



Mix brandy and both sugars in a sauce pan and stir. Add cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes until sugar is thoroughly dissolved.




Pour over cherries in bowl and stir with a non-reactive wooden or plastic spoon or spatula.



While the cherries are cooling, sterilize 7 - 1/2 pint canning jars and lids. (I put jars in a baking pan, pour boiling water into and around the jars to the half way point, and place in a 250° F. oven for half an hour. I boil the lids in water in a pot for 10 minutes.)



Fill jars with cherries and brandy, Put on the lids and place in the refrigerator for 4 - 6 weeks. These jars are not sealed and cannot be stored out of the refrigerator.











Recipe Notes

Those were the instructions. If you can wait! My tip - DON'T TASTE THE LIQUOR OR YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO WAIT.

I've never made them before, so I don't know what happens if you keep them in the fridge until Christmas - which is 5 months from cherry season. With all that sugar and alcohol I don't think they could go bad. Maybe soft? I'll try it and let you know.

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Book one in the Fortune Bay series available for 99¢ until July 4, 2018.
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