What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Grapes


We got the grapes done on Saturday. 60 pounds of 'em. Drinking antioxidant-rich grape juice during the winter months is not only a treat, but an immune booster to boot. It is good for you.

Instead of last years' wash and pluck method (in which you add 3/4 cup of sugar for every four cups of water (boiled for five minutes). Pour into jars, adding about 1 1/2 cups grapes per jar). Process for 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Let cure for several weeks and strain grapes when ready to drink.) I decided to use Matt's handy dandy fruit press for the job.

Last years' work was tedious, I recall. Not as tedious as peeling and seeding them, but tedious enough.

All hands were on deck to help.


Fresh tastes, all around...


...which made this little ones' hands keep reaching for more juice instead of helping with the grapes.

Eventually, that had to be nixed.


We used a clean sheet for the "strainer", just as we do with apples. But with the grapes, there was still a lot of squirtage. (yes, I made that word up.) Methinks we need to modify the design a bit, making a shield of some sort. Or just plan on showers for all afterward.


Last year I had 56 pounds of grapes and made 56 quarts of juice. But, with that canning method, most of the jar was water.

This year, 60 pounds of grapes yielded just-shy of 22 pints ( more without the fresh tastes taken) of pure juice concentrate. YUM-O. Pure goodness (and saves space in my ever-filling canning cupboard!)

11 comments:

Bonnie said...

That looks SO GOOD! I love the pictures of Addy Mae guzzling her juice, and helping herself to more, the cute little doll.
Good work!

In answer to your comments at my blog:
Yes the sunflowers did make it worthwhile;
I'm still in the planning stages of sending you some new baby love (I've only had 9 months to figure it out...), but I know what I'm doing and super excited!

I guess I do stand that way- I'm starting to think you and I need to have our DNA checked against each other.
And yes, good eyes, sausage gravy it was!

Leah said...

I want a farm!!!!!

Unknown said...

Looks delish, Rebecca! Good idea to use the apple press! :)

Dana said...

Looks delicious!!!

Gotta wonder if you could use a Foley Food Mill and just grind the skins in with the juice. I seem to recall that Welch's uses the skins of their grapes to make their juice, which is one reason it tastes so good! Just a thought!

Blessings--
Dana

Anonymous said...

Forgive my naivety but will you dilute this when you serve it? How much?

Rebecca said...

Dana~ that is the beauty of the fruit press. You press the grapes with skins, stems and seeds making much less work for yourself.

married to the farm~ naivety is my middle name. This is the first year doing grape juice using this method, so it is new to me too. I added some sugar to the juice before I canned it and am thinking I ought to be able to get 1.5 quarts out of each pint but that is a guess. The first jar I open I will experiment with it and I will be sure to post the results here for you (and so I don't forget myself!) :-)

Miranda Hupp said...

That is so cool! I was thinking of taking the kids grape picking this weekend. I wanted to make grape jam but we will see.

I wanted to thank you for your blog and to tell you what an encouragment it is to me. Things in my life are so crazy at times and I can feel my heart being pulled away from my family. Your blog helps give me the push that I need sometimes to keep my focus in the right place. Thanks again!

One more thing....lol....I started canning this year! I was so excited to start. I have wanted to learn how for the last few years and I finally just did it. Now I am addicted. :o) I would love to know what things you can. I know you have posted that you have done the grapes and peaches. What else? Thanks a million!

Regina said...

Hey! I just came back to read in detail just having perused your blog briefly a day or so ago. I just noticed that Matt is wearing a grape colored shirt. LOL So fitting for the occation! LOL

When my little guy was 2 we used a Foley food mill with our tomatoes. I went in to the dining room to tend to something, only to be gone for a moment. Upon my return the little guy had tomato juice up to his elbow which he proceeded to lick every drop off. LOL I just love seeing children enjoying getting in to the works and tasting such goodness. :0)

Were you planning to make grape jam or jelly eventually? I've considered making juice and freezing it, then pulling it out when the house is very cold to process in to jam. A friend of mine had done that and she said it makes for a wonderful January activity. :0)

Full of Grace said...

So jealous..Fresh Grape Juice, an abundance of Fresh tomatoes (I got a measley few cherry tomatoes, not even enough for one salad) YOU ARE SO LUCKY!!!

Wendy said...

mmm...I think I can almost smell the grapes when I look at your pictures! Well done Rebecca! Three cheers for hard working husbands who make surprise gifts! Your kids are getting so big...cant wait to see you on Monday and hold your little (big) guy!

momawake said...

Just in case you're interested I came across this grape juice post just today.

http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/randi/2010/09/lazy-mans-grape-juice.html

Sounds easy.