Jet lag and apricots

We always seem to get back from vacation just as it is time to pick apricots, and this year was no exception.  Being out in the sun in the afternoon to pick fruit is a good way to counteract jet lag.
The only side effect is that we always end up picking more fruit than I mean to.  Bags of fruit must be larger than they appear to the tired brain.  Either that, or they multiply on the way home.

Nimue gorges herself from the top of the tree.

Last year's learning was that if you cook down a pot of apricots with a cup of water and 1/4 cup sugar for about 10 minutes, you end up with a delightful puree that can be frozen and used all year in sorbet, as cake filling, tart filling, scone/pancake/waffle topping.

Thus, I spent the hottest day of the year over the stove up to my elbows in apricot goo and now the freezer is full of jars of summery goodness.

And there were still apricots left.  We made and ate a batch of apricot sorbet (3 cups water, 1 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 pounds apricots, and a splash each of rum and spicy bitters that I made last year).  Yum.  We made apricot smoothies.  Yum.  We made a delicious apricot coffee cake for breakfast.  Yum.

Can't forget the kangaroo meatballs with roasted tomato and apricot ketchup.  Mmmmm.

Nimue now has apricot fatigue.  With a couple pounds left, I decided to make some apricot liqueur, and had to make a weird late-night grocery run -- a large bottle of vodka for infusing the apricots in and a box of dishwasher soap to cope with the fact that it seemed every item in the kitchen was covered in apricot goo.  No wonder the checkers always look at me weird.

One pound of fruit left...might be time for another smoothie!