Grape Jelly

This year's fairly small picking. Note the Nerf bullet standing by. 

We are lucky enough to have some Concord Grape vines that grow semi-wild on a fence in the backyard. They're not terribly good for eating --- with big, crunchy seeds and fold-your-face-in tartness that's only sweetened by frost. But, they make fantastic jelly. 

Many of the grapes we pick are only about blueberry size. 

I know, the grapes themselves don't look like much. They're small, and many stems are partially wizened by the time we get to picking.

Don't let that deter you, though. You may have some of these growing wild around you, and they're worth a little effort.

Here are the basic steps we use:

• Pick and pull grapes from the stems. (This is the tedious part, but over some good conversation and a cup of coffee, this can be fun). 
• Wash the grapes well, but don't worry too much about drying. 
• Cook the whole grapes on the stove over low-to-medium heat and mash the heck out of them with a potato masher. 
• Once they're well-mashed (this isn't an exact science, just give it your best go), pour the grape slurry into a food mill. Don't have a food mill? You can also squeeze the juice out using a piece of cheese cloth. This is pretty messy and time-consuming though. Go ahead and put a food mill on your Christmas list. You won't be sorry. 
• Once you've got the juice separated, the rest is easy. You'll need some pectin and the store-bought variety comes with instructions about how much juice to use per enormous quantity of sugar. 



Grape juice on the stove. 

• Use any pot big enough to cover your jars with a few inches of hot water for the canning process and ---voila!--- homemade grape jelly. 

We often have leftover juice because YOU MUST MEASURE YOUR JELLY INGREDIENTS EXACTLY. I say again, measure twice ... cook once. Jelly won't "set" unless you've got the ratios right. 

You can also combine the juice with seltzer and make amazing home-made grape soda. Delicious!