Grape Juice

If you have a lot of grapes, you gotta get hold of a steamer/juicer. A friend gave me a bunch of grapes today and loaned me hers. It is a super fun toy! My youngest son calls it the "still." LOL

It's so simple to do...

1. Fill the base 3/4 full of water. Place on stove.

2. Place the next part (I don't know what to call it???) on top of the base...

3. Place the steamer basket inside the last part and fill it full of washed grapes. Don't worry about taking them off the stems. Just get rid of any yucky ones, sticks and leaves.

4. Then place the hose where it belongs (making sure it is on all the way). Place the other end of the hose into a large pot on a chair next to the stove.

I started with this chair but realized it was too high

5. Turn the stove onto high heat until the water comes to a hard boil. Then turn down to medium-high heat to keep it at a good steam.

Wait until the juice stops flowing into the pot. You may have to fiddle with the hose to get it to flow. It took me about 30 minutes or so to get a full batch of juice.

6. Then remove the lid and the steamer basket very carefully. I put it on a baking tray next to the steamer on the stovetop. Empty out the pulp into a large bowl. You can dump it out or save it for your compost pile. Then refill the base with water and start the process again.

7. When all the grapes have been juiced. Put 1-2 cups of sugar per gallon into your juice. Then heat it to 190 for 10 minutes. Do not boil.

8. Pour into hot sterilized jars (pints or quarts) leaving 1/4" headspace. Place on lids and bands until finger tight. Process in boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

Turn canner off and let rest 5 minutes before removing.

9. Check seals after about 24 hours. Place any unsealed jars in the fridge and use right away. Place the rest on the shelf to be used with 12 months.

Strawberry Canning Day

After a long hiatus, I got back into canning again for the season. I drug everything I would need up from the laundry room…

including my chicken apron. Somehow it seems to get me in the canning mood. :o)

First I made a couple of batches of jam. One plain and one with 3 teaspoons of crushed dried lavender mixed into the sugar. You could easily do it with your favorite strawberry jam recipe. It has such a delicate floral aroma that would be lovely on a scone with a cup of tea.

 

I also made a batch of strawberry honey lemonade concentrate using the recipe from the Ball Blue Book and some honey sugar I picked up bulk at the grocery. It’s a little bit different, but I really like it on a warm spring day!

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

6 cups strawberries pureed in food processor or blender

 

 

Pour puree into a large saucepan. Add…

4 cups lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

6 cups sugar

 

Heat to 190 over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.

Pour into prepared jars with a 1/4” headspace. Top with prepared lids and bands.Process for 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Turn off heat and let jars rest for 5 minutes before removing from canner. Let sit for 12-24 hours before checking the seals.

Add 1 to 2 parts water to 1 part concentrate.

Canning Applesauce

I think I have perfected my method of making applesauce! It is so quick and easy to make LOADS of it with hardly any effort! All you need is a roaster oven and a food mill. If only canning it were as simple… :o)

First get apples!

This has been a very good year for apples for the first time in a couple of years!

Then wash, quarter and core them. That’s all… you don’t have to peel them.

Place them into a roaster oven pan that you have filled halfway with cold water and added lemon juice (like 1/4 cup maybe??? I didn’t measure).

When the pan is full, pour off the water into the sink. Be very careful! Well,  you’re probably gonna get wet… ;o)

Put the pan back in the roaster oven and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (give or take). Give them a stir occasionally to keep the edges from burning.

When the apples are soft, turn off the oven and remove lid.

   They don’t look very appetizing at this point.

Place your food mill over a large bowl and fill only about halfway with the apples. Run them through the food mill until you only have peels left in the mill. You don’t want to run more than two batches through before you clean it out.

Fill as many bowls as necessary.  My three boxes did 3 ovens full and lots of bowls of applesauce!

At this point you can freeze or can your applesauce.

If you are going to can it, you have to heat the applesauce to 212!

The easiest way to do it is to pour it back into your roaster oven, turn it to 400 and cook until 212 and ready to can. Be sure to stir it often to make sure it is all hot!

Add sugar to hot applesauce and stir well before canning. You can add as little or as much as you want.

Pour into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2'” headspace. Top with a prepared canning lid and put on the rings to only finger tight. Place in boiling water, return to a boil and process for 20 minutes for both pints and quarts. Turn off heat, remove lid and let rest for 5 minutes before removing jars to cool.

Check jars after 12 to 24 hours to see if they have sealed. If not, place in fridge or freeze. Place the rest on the shelf and enjoy them all year long!

Pear Perfection

I may have discovered the secret to perfect canned pears! Unfortunately, I may not be able to reproduce the results ever again…

It may have been the beautiful bartlett pears I bought at Payton’s Produce here in town.

It may have been the ideal conditions in our basement bathroom to bring them to just the ideal ripeness in only two days.

But I think it was the fresh lime juice that I squeezed into the soaking water while they waited to get packed into the jars. It was the only thing I had to keep them from discoloring and I was too lazy to go to the store I squeezed half a lime into each bowl of water and then dropped the half a lime into it, too to float around with the pears.

They didn’t discolor one bit! They look perfectly white in the jars! You wouldn’t even know I had canned them….

I also raw pack my pears. Shhh! Don’t tell because technically you are supposed to hot pack them.

I was actually thankful one of the jars didn’t seal so we could try them. Not only do they look gorgeous, but they taste FANTASTIC!!!

Here’s to hoping I can do it again next year…

Blueberry Ginger Jam

A huge blueberry picking day means lots of blueberry recipes… Here’s another one for a delightful jam with ginger, both fresh and candied. I had a bit this morning on my English muffin and it was very tasty!

Here is the recipe from Food In Jars… Click HERE to get there!

I love that it sits and lets all that ginger just permeate all those blueberries all day long! And she was right… it would be much easier if you put them in cheesecloth! Those little suckers are tricky to find!

And don’t wear white while canning blueberries… they stain! : o(

Maple Brown Sugar Blueberry Cheesecake

This may just be the most delicious no-bake cheesecake I’ve ever had! I made up the recipe myself after being inspired by a batch of blueberry maple jam from Well Preserved. I whipped up a batch with just a few of our 30 pounds of u-pick organic blueberries. We served it on pancakes for breakfast this morning and I was smitten!!! The marriage of blueberries, brown sugar, and maple syrup were a match made in heaven! And HERE is the recipe for the soft set no-pectin jam. As I was snatching yet another spoonful out of the jar in the fridge I knew that it just needed to be on cheesecake… but not just any cheesecake.

What would my cheesecake need? Brown sugar… and mason jars!

Crust:

1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons melted butter.

Crush graham crackers (about 6 whole) into fine crumbs.

Mix in brown sugar. Add butter and mix until well combined.

Press about 1/4 cup of crust into bottom of 5-6 mason jars. Place in fridge while making cheesecake.

Cheesecake:

12-14 oz softened cream cheese (I used 14oz for a little more tang)

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Put cream cheese in large mixing bowl. Take about 1 Tablespoon of the brown sugar out of the measuring cup and place it in a small bowl before adding the remaining brown sugar to the cream cheese. Beat until almost completely smooth, add the lemon juice and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 Tablespoon instant clear gel (as a stabilizer)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the sugar you set aside and add the clear gel. Whip the cream until it just starts to get thick. Add the sugar/clear gel mixture and vanilla. Whip until very thick.

Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Top the crusts with about 1/3 cup of the filling. Smooth the tops.

Top with a layer of the maple blueberry jam.

Chill for about 1/2-1 hour in freezer or 2-3 hours in fridge before serving.

Raspberry Jam With a Kick

I wasn’t sure where I was going with this recipe, but it turned out rather well. I’m wondering if it will become spicier as it sits, but for now it has a subtle flavor that I can’t quite pick out (and it’s not pepper… LOL). I think it will be just right for corn bread or on bagels with cream cheese.

I think I’ll possibly warm my sugar every time I make jam from now on…

4 cups sugar

Warm sugar on a shallow pan in a 250 oven for 15 minutes. (It dissolves better warm.)

4 cups fresh raspberries

6-8 dried red chili peppers

Bring raspberries to a full boil over high heat. Mash the berries as you heat them.

Boil hard for 1 minute, still constantly.

Add sugar and peppers, return to a boil and cook until thick and gels on the back of a spoon.

Remove peppers and place two in each jar.

Fill hot sterilized jars to 1/4” headspace and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from canner.