Prune Plum Pivot

Every year when prune plums hit the market I love to make plum jam. Not to brag, but my plum jam is delicious - I even won a blue ribbon at the county fair for it. I make a big batch and give jars away with loaves of bread or scones. This year, when I saw prune plums I bought them, just like always. And then...I stalled. It was hot and I was cranky and a hurricane was coming and, well, I just didn’t want to. So I had a choice. I could push through and make the jam (hating every second of it), I could let the plums rot or I could pivot.

Here’s the thing - There are times when you hit a wall and can’t follow the way you’ve always done things. There are obstacles in your way, timing is bad or, like with the plum jam, there’s just no joy there. If you’re so focused on doing things the way you always have just because that’s the way you’ve always done them, you lose the opportunity to make the most of the experience. So I pivoted. I pitted and halved the plums, put them on a sheet pan (with some nectarines that were going from unripe to bad without ever stopping at ripe), drizzled them with some honey and vanilla, and sprinkled on some thyme sprigs that I cut while dragging the thyme planters closer to the house before the storm hit. I covered the plums with foil and baked them at 250 until they were soft and gave up some of their juices, about 60-75 minutes. I’ll still give some out to friends this week as a “first hurricane of the season down” gift to have with ice cream or yogurt or oatmeal or whatever’s left in the pantry, and I’ll do it with joy.