Ever since I was a young girl I have loved the flavour of chokecherry syrup. We would often go and pick fruit - I think my dad thought it was safe to send us picking because the cherries were too bitter to eat and we would have lots of chokecherries in our buckets at the end of the picking.
Chokecherries are usually ready mid August to early September. The chokecherry bush behind my fathers house was bare this year - the frost killed the blossoms in the spring. We managed to locate some fruit further down in the coulies where the bushes were better protected from the elements.
After washing the berries and moving leaves and twigs, we boiled the fruit to soften and make it easier to mash to a pulp.
After mashing and removing the stones you add some water and boil a second time to get more of the precious juice.
When the juice is all collected you add sugar and heat it to a rolling boil. After it thickens you add the juice to heated jars and sterilized lids and tighten the jar rings. Within a half an hour you will hear the lids ping and pop, which is the best sound you can hear when canning.
