The plague of flies, specifically fruit flies

I have always been a little creeped out by the story in the Bible of the plague of flies in Egypt. It doesn’t say what they were, but I am now convinced that they were fruit flies. Let me explain.

My tomatoes produced very bountifully this year and when the weather started getting down to freezing instead of trying to cover them every night and uncover them every morning, I just picked everything, sorted them into boxes and put them in the back porch. Every few days I would sort everything and process what was ready to process. The first several boxes went into my own recipe of tomato-vegetable juice — I call it V6, because there are 6 veggies in it, not 8. But as the weeks went on, other things got busy and I got a little behind. Last week I went back to get a tub that I knew was really ripe and when I picked it up a whole cloud of fruit flies came out of that tub and into my face. Apparently the tomatoes were a little too ready to be processed. The tub went right out the front door to the chickens, but the fruit flies didn’t follow. 

Now I have fruit flies everywhere in my house. The Bible tells us the flies were everywhere, even in people’s mouths and their food. I am not sure if I have swallowed one yet, but I have actually had to chase them off of the melon as I was moving it towards my mouth. I made a smoothie for breakfast and I always just set the blender lid at an angle to let it drain back into the jar. Can’t do that for a while. The fruit flies found it in less than a minute. The little buggers are absolutely everywhere. 

So I research. There are homemade traps that can be made, which I have done, but the biggest thing is to make sure the food supply is gone. They will perish in 3-4 days without food or nectar. So the kitchen will get a thorough cleaning and there will be no fruit juice, no tomatoes, no fruit, not even any rising bread left out for them to feast on. Between that and the traps, maybe in a week they will all be gone. 

I was going to start a gluten-free sourdough starter this week, but I think I better make sure the little fruit flies are gone first. They would likely find their way into it also, and I don’t need extra protein in my sourdough. 

So this week will be vanquish the fruit flies week. I haven’t actually finished all of the tomatoes, but I did put them all in the freezer, so they are safe from the flies and I get a break for a week or so before I finish them up. It will also be “put everything away, and clean the kitchen week” before I start making and boxing Christmas presents.

Divinity

2 cups sugar

½ cup corn syrup

3 egg whites

1 cup chopped nuts

½ cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar. 

Combine sugar, syrup, water, salt, and cream of tarter. Cover and boil 5 minutes, uncover and wipe sides of pan with a damp cloth. Boil without stirring to firm ball stage (245º-248) remove from fire, pour slowly, beating constantly over stiffly beaten egg whites. Continue beating until mixture holds its shape when dropped from a spoon. Add flavoring and nuts. Drop from a teaspoon onto waxed paper.