Saturday, September 15, 2012

Oh! the house smells good!

I wish I could send the smells to you.  Concord grapes smell SO AWESOME!  I've been keeping the grapes that we processed earlier in the week in the fridge.  Today was Jelly day.  I like jams better but grapes just lend themselves better to jelly.

What is the difference????  Jams are when the pulp of the fruit along with the juices are simmered down.  There are pieces of fruit in the jar.  Jelly is a clearer and smoother. It uses pectin to set it. Pectin is an apple based thickener.  I have a terrible time getting jelly to thicken right.  So I really hope this works!

We (oh yeah I mean "I") made two batches. The first batch was 6 cups liquid, four cups sugar and two packets of liquid pectin. (That was for Dale and it yielded 9 half pint jars.) The other batch was eight cups of liquid, about one and a half cups of honey, and three packs of no sugar needed powder pectin.  (That was for me and it yielded 11 half pint jars.)

I don't buy much for jellies and jams.  Now both Dale and I have pantries full of jellies, jams and preserves.  I guess if all else fails we can live on PB & J sandwiches.




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