Canned Plums

 

 I love plums, but I sort of resent the fact that they always ripen during the hottest week of the year.  I hate to see them go to waste, though, so I spent a muggy morning standing over the boiling canner, putting up plums in light syrup and a gingery plum chutney.  This weekend I'll be experimenting with pickled plums and plum fruit leather.  I'm starting to think my hands might always be sticky and stained purple.