Oh Me Oh My Cherry Pie!

I got the chance to go pick some cherries on Sunday (thanks Dawn!) and so early in the week I set out to make some cherry pie filling....along with strawberry pie filling.
Here is our little illustration on making pie filling.....

 First you pick...

 

 Then you wash and pit them if they are cherries..cut the tops off if they are strawberries....

 For Strawberry pie filling:
In a very large pot bring 6 cups of water, 7 cups of sugar, 2-3oz boxes of strawberry jello to a boil. You do not need to stir constantly just a few times through out to help dissolve the sugar and jello mix. Bring to a boil and let boil for ONE minute. In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups of CLEAR JELL (this is not the same things as sure jell you use for jam making) and 2 cups of water. **Also note that you do NOT want instant clear jell** Add the clear jell mix to the pot and bring up to a bubbling while constantly stirring the mix as it thickens, once it starts to bubble remove it from the heat and add 6 quarts of fruit.
For cherry pie filling follow the same instructions but use one 3 oz box of cherry jello, and one box of lemon jello.

I made a 1/2 batch of the cherry filling, because I only had a little over 3 quarts of cherries. Just cut everything in the recipe in half. It worked wonderful and was really a very fast process.

HINT: Which in turn makes the whole experience more enjoyable!I don't know about you but when I try to do the whole process from start to finish in one afternoon or day it is too much. So on the day I harvested the fruit I cleaned and topped/pitted them. I then stored them in bowls (covered) in the fridge for a few days until I could get my clear jell I needed. Splitting up the work made it seem not so overwhelming and all consuming to my day.

 I love how pretty my jars look with all that yummy filling inside them! Mmmmmm!

DANIELLE