The Apricot Tree in the Back Yard
There is one apricot tree in our back yard, and every year we make too much noise about it, because it is the only one we have. It stands against the fence where the soil dries out fastest, and in most years it gives us one good week and then nothing. In late May the fruit swells, goes yellow, and the wasps find it before we do.
This year the week was short and warm. We picked in the evenings, when the fruit was cool, and carried the trays into the kitchen so the wasps would not have the rest of the afternoon to work with. Some years we also cover the tree, but this year we mostly picked fast and let the rest drop.
The jam did not set. We stirred it for longer than usual, added more sugar to be safe, and by the next morning the jars were still liquid enough to pour. Nonna's rule is that sugar hides the fruit, and she was right, but the jam was also undercooked, and the two mistakes together ruined it. We ate it over bread for a fortnight and called it a sauce.
What we do now is cook the fruit first, in its own juice, until it falls apart, and only then add the sugar, in two goes, letting it come back to a boil after each. The jars go into the freezer overnight and come out set and bright, and if any survives the winter we move it to the cold shelf in the cellar and eat it with cheese in March.