Remove the plums from the can and take out the pits. Do not skip this step or youвЂ™ll have starch lumps.ДЈ. Mix together the sugar, flour and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a small bowl mix together the egg white and water, set aside.Дў. Move the oven rack to the lower quarter of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. As a small company, they only process absolutely perfect fruit, or they wonвЂ™t can it at all.ДЎ can (15 ounces) Oregon Fruit Whole Purple Plums in Heavy SyrupДЎ. If you think canned fruit is substandard, youвЂ™ve never tried Oregon Fruit. Oregon FruitвЂ™s canned plums perfume this blueberry pie with rich fragrant syrup and beautiful soft ripe plums. The place where processed fruit is worthy of the best pies. Days I wish I could have chosen to live and work in Salem, Oregon in a little privately owned fruit factory where turnover is nearly nonexistent and people take care of each other. I suppose my life is here in Idaho, but there are days I wish things were different. ItвЂ™s gotten so bad, I only give pies with Oregon Fruit Plums to the people who will share a piece with me! TheyвЂ™re my favorite in the world, as the cherries are my mothers. Speaking of hoarding, I stock Oregon Fruit Plums like IвЂ™m in a WWII rationing situation. I have one little bottle left IвЂ™m hoarding in my freezer. Oregon Fruit being a small factory cannot afford to sell it to us as of yet. I just wish we could buy the stuff right now itвЂ™s only being used in restaurants because of the high price to put it on grocery shelves. Fruit syrup with fruit bits to be used in drinks. Workers lined the place making sure everything was perfect and clean before processed into their new product called Berry Up, created by JoEllen herself. Nothing is ever wasted.Дressing up in sanitary gear, we finally entered the processing building. SheвЂ™s a hoot! What I didnвЂ™t realize is if the cans donвЂ™t weigh quite enough they get relabeled and sent to people who can use them under a different name. I met Ardis relabeling cans to go to food banks and discount stores. Ospreys being a favorite of mine, I took this as an omen. She told us about the baby birdsвЂ™ first flight fiasco and safe return. JoEllen was amazing, fun and with this spirit of knowledge we got to ask her everything from history details, to the old wood floors, to the canning and recycling process and then she proudly took us to see the giant osprey nest just outside the far building.

I donвЂ™t think she minded too much, although she canвЂ™t wait to see the place when sheвЂ™s older. Clara not being twelve yet, got to stay behind and play with Terri. Terri then led me around and introduced me to everyone, including JoEllen, who took Jesse and I on our tour. I adored her at once of course, and she showed me to the welcome sign they made just for me. When I entered the building, Terri ran out and hugged me.

How could someone from my favorite company find me? Even better how could they find me, make friends with me, invite me to Oregon and offer me my favorite fruit? All I can figure is I must have done something right in the world. Terri wrote to me many months ago when I posted a plum pie. Although this time, I got to finally meet my new forever friend. For me a passage, for Terri and friends, another day at work. WeвЂ™d slept at a rest stop just so we could get to the factory in time to meet my wonderful friend Terri and tour this sacred place. My husband, daughter and I arrived in our RV, Otto the Travel Box, bright and early that late June morning. I still canвЂ™t make a cherry pie like hers, but IвЂ™m getting closer. Now I know itвЂ™s the syrup in the cans my mother was after.

The thickened cherry syrup was always the best part and IвЂ™d impolitely lick it off my plate every time. The highlight of our holidays, we waited for those pies for agonizing hours. My small mother seemed so tall then as I stretched high on my toes to peer over the counter to watch the magical pie making process. вЂњThese are the best cherries in the worldвЂќ, my mom would exclaim every year when she made her special cherry pies. Most of us Oregon Fruit fans know this as soon as we open a can. The labels were almost apologetic at first, as they believed processed fruit could never live up to the standards of fresh. Since 1935 a small company called Oregon Fruit has canned our best and most beautiful northwestern fruits. There is a story here, on their side and on mine. I suppose IвЂ™m getting ahead of myself here. A lifetime of hard work, friendship, fruit and being part of the lives of a group of intelligent women who share their days together. For once, I found something worth trading my freedom for. I glanced back at the low gray building with sadness and a bit of envy.

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