Good Fortune

going outside
plum blossoms dive in...
my lucky tea
                 ~ Issa date unknown ~










This morning I made Spicy Plum Butter with plums picked from a tree growing in our backyard large enough to bear branches heavy with fruit, but somehow undetected until this summer. I have sipped the lucky tea!

Fun Facts (originally published here )

The Chinese believe plums symbolize good fortune.

• More than one hundred varieties of plum stones were found on Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose, which sank in 1545.
• February is the month for plums in Japan; there are plum blossoms everywhere.
• Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums) were thought by the samurai to combat fatigue.
• Plum trees are grown on every continent except Antarctica.
• There are more than 140 varieties of plum sold in the United States.
• Plums are the second most cultivated fruit in the world.
• At least 2,300 people in the U.S. are listed on whitepages.com with the last name “Plum.”
• Plums can be as large as a baseball or a small as a cherry.
• Plums were on the menu at the first Thanksgiving dinner in 1621.

                                     
There are a number of recipes out there for plum butter.  All you really need are plums, sugar and heat to make a delicious spread.  I washed, dried and removed the pits from about 4 pounds of lovely, deep purple, newly discovered plums roughly chopping and tossing into my slow cooker with a cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of water.  I turned it on high for a couple of hours and then stirred the plums that by this point had started to break down a bit.  Gave them a quick zip round with an immersion blender, turned the crock down to low and crawled into bed!
When I woke, I gave the pot a stir and turned the crock to high as I was in the kitchen and could keep an eye on it and stir occasionally while it continued to thicken up.  Once it appeared to be near done, I added some vanilla, orange zest, cinnamon and cardamon to taste.  You can add a little more sugar at this point if you would like it sweeter or some lemon if it is too sweet. Some grated fresh ginger or lemon zest would likely work very well too.
To test the butter's thickness drop a spoonful on a plate and leave it sit for a few minutes.  If the plum butter remains thick and water is not separating out around the edges, it is ready to put in your jars.  I washed 5 one cup canning jars with warm soapy water, sterilized my jars, lids and rings on a baking tray in the oven and filled the jars (leaving about a 1/4 inch of room at the top) before putting on my lids and rings (finger tight) and processing them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.  You can read all about how to sterilize your jars and process your finished product here.
Plum butter is a lovely topping for toast or scones, add to your muffins in place of apple sauce, spoon over vanilla ice-cream or grilled pound cake, add to your homemade salad dressing, glaze chicken or pork or whatever else you can dream up. Share the good fortune of an unexpected bounty for continued good fortune.