CONCORD GRAPE JELLY

My excitement this morning at both this beautiful day and my gelled jelly is pretty high.

Mostly it’s because I’ve never made it, it’s really easy but requires a few details for success.

First off, I don’t have a fancy “jelly bag” as required by all recipes but I remembered the rip in my sons bottom bed sheet (yellow flannel) which I saved for rags. The point is that the juice must be separated from the pulp completely in order to have a clear clear jelly (THIS one is like a jewel). When it cooks-the whole house smells like bazooka bubble gm (in a good way). For shelf stability, you need to process according to canning methods but I didn’t. I was too lazy and knew it’d be gobbled up in no time anyway. No need to process if you keep it refrigerated. If I keep good whole wheat bread in the freezer, the kids will toast is and spread on the jelly for late night snacks: better than many they could choose

So here’s the formula. The weight in pounds equaled the volume of juice once drained: 4lbs grapes equaled 4 cups juice which is the same number of cups of sugar you want. I used organic cane sugar (one of the 2 main benefits of making your own).

Concord grape jelly

4 lbs grapes

4 cups sugar

Wash and cook and mash fruit to release juice, about 10-15 minutes.

Drain through a jelly bag or flannel sheet. Measure juice, (need equal volumne sugar)

Bring juice to a boil, reduce heat and stir in sugar but don’t let boil again-

just cook to dissolve sugar and thicken slightly (the color will turn into a deep purple).

Ladle into clean jars, cool, top and refrigerate.