Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Lost Art.

I was up SUPER late Thursday night working on this....liquid gold.
At least that's how it feels to my family. Several times a year I get a call that the vegetable/fruit I ordered is ready to be picked up. It's a vegetable/fruit crisis, and it usually comes on a very BUSY week. I don't know how that happens, but it usually happens that way. This week was no exception!
Brent called me at work, "THE GRAPES ARE READY. CAN YOU PICK THEM UP?" No, actually I couldn't. I was getting groceries and I had a million other things to do before this crazy busy weekend. So, he graciously picked them up for me. I thought about it all that afternoon. About how I'll have to spend HOURS that night canning liquid gold.
We think of it that way because it's really THAT GOOD. And, if we don't pace ourselves in drinking it, it doesn't last all year. I have 5 quart jars left from last year. That's not bad. I made 59 more quarts the other night.
We started with this...

and ended with this...

I'm glad I learned this old fashioned art. It's quickly going out of style I think. I'm glad I can put away all this food for my family for us to enjoy all winter because we sure do miss fresh stuff from the garden.
Now, I want you all to know I'm not tootin my own horn. I'm just glad I can do it. I'm proud of what I've done, cause gosh darnit, it takes a long time to do.
But look at what I've got!

(side note....my mother did the green beans. I can't take the credit for that, just the grape juice, tomatoes, and jam are mine.)

6 comments:

  1. I've never actually heard of doing your own grape juice. I thought at first you were making wine when I saw the pics. Looks delish. I really need to get better at canning things. I just worry about not doing it right and making everyone sick.

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  2. I've never thought of making my own grape juice either. Is it difficult? Congrats on your canning success. It IS a lot of work!

    ~Andrea~

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  3. Making grape juice is not hard, it just takes a long time to process each batch.
    Use ONLY concord grapes to make this.

    Wash grapes
    add 1 cup grapes to each quart jar.
    1/4-1/2 c sugar in each jar. I use only 1/4 c and it is plenty.
    Add sugar to boiling water and fill each jar to the top.
    Put lids on and seal, and put in water bath canner for 20 minutes.

    DONE. It really does taste SOOOO good!

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  4. I grew up on homemade grape juice! That is something I am willing to tackle next year. In fact, my mom and I were just talking about making it this summer, and she was telling me how simple it is to do, just time-consuming. Where do you get your grapes?

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Thanks for commenting...I love reading what you all have to say!