Grape Jelly Day

I decided that today would be the day I would unload our freezer of the large amount of grape juice I have stored in there and finally make some grape jelly.  Now, I didn't make this decision because because I'm feeling particularly ambitious.  Anyone that knows me very well, knows that I work best with deadlines.  I just found out that we will be butchering a beef this weekend, so unless I get the freezer cleaned out and organized, we will have no where to put it.  Currently, the main items taking up space in the freezer are fish and deer meat.  And, the aforesaid grape juice--and I mean a LOT of juice.  So, here is a little look at my jelly making project.

Here's the messy freezer.  Notice all the jars of juice in the door, plus there is a large plastic container full hidden under stuff on one of the shelves.  Also, notice the grape juice that dripped down the door.  A word of caution--when freezing liquids make sure you leave PLENTY of space at the top for expansion or this is what happens!  I thought I had left enough space but I was wrong and, trust me, even though it's frozen, it is still a sticky mess! 

                   After unloading everything from the freezer, I took it inside by the fire to start to thaw.

This is a copy of my Great-grandma Julia's cookbook.  It has a whole bunch of cool old recipes, especially for jellies and preserves.  I've seen the original and I think the date on it was somewhere around 1915; she would have been about 20 years old then.  She states that wild grapes make the best jelly.  There is even a wild grape-crab apple jelly recipe that sounds amazing.  Grandma writes:  "This combination has a especially fine 'tang' that makes it suitable as a relish for game or turkey."  Unfortunately, in September I'm way too busy to be out gathering wild grapes and crab apples, so that recipe will have to wait.  As it was, I was lucky to get these grapes harvested (off the neighbor's arbor), juiced, and put into the freezer.  The grapes are a really, really old concord type.

I don't use pectin in my grape jelly (and neither did Grandma.)  It takes longer to cook and it takes a little practice to know at what point to stop cooking, but you don't have to spend money for pectin, plus it takes less sugar.  My best advice for making any type of jam or jelly is to work in small batches.  It won't turn out if you try to do a whole bunch at once.  Also, wash the pot, utensils, stove, etc. in between each batch.  Otherwise, you've got a super-sticky mess on your hands before you know it.



Gathering Jars, Lids, and Rings.



Boiling a batch of jelly. 
This is one quart of juice to three cups sugar (makes four half-pints.)



Filling the jars.

Today's work.  I still have much more juice, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow!

Who wants Grape Jelly??