What do you do when you have a ton of fresh pomegranates? You make fresh juice, syrup and molasses!

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Add all ingredients to a saucepan and heat on medium-high until the sugar has dissolved and the juice begins to simmer. Reduce the heat so it maintains a light simmer and let it reduce for about 45-50 minutes. You will end up with a great pomegranate syrup.

Want to make pomegranate molasses??? Easy, just let it keep cooking for another 30-45 minutes and the syrup will thicken even more.

Let cool and store in a jar in your refrigerator.

I have too many blueberries! I froze a bunch of them, but decided to make a blueberry pie with the rest since it wasn’t uncomfortably hot out today.

1 9-inch frozen pie crust
4 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup water

Place half of the blueberries in the pie crust. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, salt and water. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add butter. Pour over the berries in the pie crust. Let cool and then serve with whipped cream.

3 cups fresh Blackberries
2 cups Water
1 package Powdered fruit pectin
5 cups Sugar

Crush fruit thoroughly. Add water and fruit pectin. Stir until pectin is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Boil 5-10 minutes. Add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Boil 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until thick. Let cool.

Peach!

8 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar – (packed)
2 Tbs butter, cut into slices
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange peach slices in the pie plate. Sprinkle with lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a small bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. With your fingers crumble the margarine into the flour-sugar mixture on top of the peaches. Bake until peaches are soft and topping is browned. Serve warm.

Servings: 8

2 quarts fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
5 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1 (1 3/4-oz.) package fruit pectin

Mash the strawberries in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar, corn syrup and lemon juice. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, bring the water and pectin to a boil, stir constantly. Cook for about 1 minute. Add to fruit mixture and stir for 3 minutes.
Pour into jars or freezer safe containers. Cover and let it set overnight. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for 1 year.

Makes 4 1/2 pints.

1 9″ pie shell, baked
1 quart fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
whipped cream
confectioners sugar

Take a little more than half of the berries and mash them in a bowl with sugar and cornstarch. Place the mixture in a double boiler and cook until it thickens and becomes a glaze. Remove from heat. Take all but 4 of the remaining berries and slice them lengthwise. Place slice berries on the bottom of the cooked pie crust. Pour cooked berries over and let set. When completely cool and ready to serve, cover entire top with whipped cream. Dip the last 4 berries in confectioners sugar and use to garnish the pie.

4 lbs. Peaches, peeled, sliced
2 Cups Frozen, pitted Sour Cherries
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 tablespoons All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Streusel Topping:
2 Cups unsifted all-purpose Flour
1/4 Cup packed Light-Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Cold unsalted Butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour boiling water over the peaches and let stand for 1-2 minutes. Peel off the skin and chop into small chunks.
Toss fruits and lemon juice, add mixed sugar, flour and cinnamon to fruit & toss. Make topping by combining dry ingredients with butter. Crumble mixture over fruit. Bake
45 minutes until bubbly and browned.
Makes 12 servings.

2 1/4 lb. tart cooking apples
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup biscuit mix
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Place apples in a 12 inch skillet or wide saucepan. Add 3/4 cup sugar, water and lemon juice and stir well. In small bowl, stir together the biscuit mix and milk until mix is moistened. Heat apple mixture to boiling. Drop dumpling mixture in 6 portions over apples. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Cover and simmer until apples are tender and dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes longer.

My good friend Rich made these last night and they were gone in minutes!

8-10 Apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Core the apples and then slice them in half. Lay out the apples halves on a cookie sheet or baking pan. Mix together the remaining ingredients then spread over the top of the apples. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the apples become tender.

These are great for summer parties with all the great fruits in season now. Feel free to experiment with different fruit combinations.

1 (9 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
2 firm bananas, sliced
2 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blueberries
2 kiwi, peeled and sliced
2 cups cold milk
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar

Prepare and bake yellow cake mix according to the package directions using a 9 inch round pan. Cool and then cut into one inch cubes.
In a bowl, mix together the pineapple, bananas, peaches, and half of the strawberries.
In another bowl, whisk milk and the pudding mix for two minutes. Then let stand for about 2 minutes or until it begins to set.
In a mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks begin to form. Add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
In a large trifle bowl, layer half of the cake cubes, then the fruit mixtures and pudding and whipped cream. Repeat the layers to fill the bowl. Garnish with the blueberries, kiwi and remaining strawberries. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours and then serve.