Garlic's Here, Made Plum Syrup...Fall Is Just Around The Corner

Summer is just about over at my house, even though the calendar says it's summer 'til September.  The neighborhood children are going back to school this week, while two of my own daughters are starting their year at the University; our youngest child is moving out on her own for the first time.  Abby graduated from high school and will be joining her older sister in another town so we are moving belongings to a dorm and an apartment this week.  It will be strange not having a child going off to the local school.

And a box arrived in the mail from Karen and Mike @ http://www.wegrowgarlic.com/.  I know summer is almost over when garlic is harvested.  I am excited to find some new ways to use it.  Any great recipe suggestions?

Where did summer go?  We took family trips; the girls took trips to cities on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts this year, as well as biking, hiking, camping and Havasupai in the Grand Canyon.
We watched an outdoor movie with friends and neighbors in the Park.

We drove our ATVs to the top of Horseshoe Mountain behind our little town.  This is what the view from 11,000 ft. above sea level looks like.  (Look!  There's our house in the valley just past the bend in the road).  We made some great outdoor meals on the grill

 with produce from our garden (and yes we weeded and mowed). 

We watched hummingbirds;and harvested the Pottawatomie Plum Tree.  I juiced and bottled those teeny, tiny heritage pioneer plums for later when I have more time to make jelly, but I had a request for some plum syrup which we ate on Ableskivers for Sunday Supper.  You could add some red food coloring but I like my syrup natural.  I love the peachy-pink color of this juice.  The plums are tart and sweet at the same time.

So I am saying "Good Night" to summer.  Fall is my favorite season (I'm not rushing it am I?).  Yesterday Costco had their Christmas wrap already out on display.  For goodness sake!  Is it asking too much to let us enjoy fall first?  I can hardly wait for apples, squash and turning leaves but hold the Christmas ornaments. 

Goodnight Summer!

Plum Syrup

1 cup of plum  juice, unsweetened
1 cup of granulated sugar
¾ cup of white corn syrup

Combine all ingredients and boil for 2 minutes. After the mixture comes to a full boil that you cannot stir down, skim the foam off the top. Boil until the syrup is of the consistency that you desire.

Refrigerate or bottle by processing in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes for pints and 10 minutes for quarts.  You will need to lengthen your processing time for safety reasons according to your altitude.  (I bottled this syrup at 5800 ft./above sea level and added 10 extra minutes to the processing time to adjust for my altitude).  Check a good canning book or your local agriculture extension service for information that applies to your area.