My Canning Debut

Twenty-five pounds of juicy concord grapes, twelve shiny new quart jars, lots and LOTS of water, and ten attractively stained purple fingers. I could really get into this whole canning business! It probably should not have taken quite as long, but that's how it seems to go for me with new projects the first time around. A super nice lady, Anne, let everyone know on Sunday that she had lots of grapes ready to pick if anyone was interested. Of course, I not only wanted to enjoy some of the grapes, but also to get my hands dirty picking them off the vine. There is something about harvesting fresh produce that is so energizing. I can't wait to grow a garden of my own someday. So I asked if I could come help pick the grapes myself. She invited me over that afternoon and we picked a huge box together. At that point I wasn't actually sure what I was going to do with that many grapes, but Anne started telling me about how she makes juice every year and offered her equipment for me to borrow. That sounded great to me. She walked me through the steps for the easier version of grape juice that she often makes and gathered all of her canning accessories for me. She even gave me jars to borrow, but I ended up deciding to buy my own because eventually I will want to do more canning. 

For the first seven jars, I tried the faster method of grape juice making. The jars are filled with grapes, covered with boiling water, then sealed and processed for twenty minutes. I quickly realized I would have to buy many more jars to use this method for the whole box of grapes, so I decided to try out the more time-consuming method. The grapes are washed, chopped in a food processor, boiled for ten minutes, then strained to remove the skin and seeds from the juice. These grapes are so sweet, no sugar was added. To strain the juice, Anne had mentioned that she used to hang an old pillowcase between two chairs and let the juice drip into a bucket overnight. I almost went for this option, until my mom pointed out that I was going to lose a lot of juice to the pillowcase. So I went with another ingenious idea I found online...pantyhose. I happened to have an unopened pair in my sock drawer and it felt good to actually get some use out of them. I strained the juice, then boiled it and put it into the hot canning jars. It was rather satisfying listening to the popping lids as the jars sat cooling on the counter. Now hopefully if tastes good, too.

Lisa was a great little helper. She pulled grapes from their stems, washed them and loaded the food processor. I wasn't sure how interested she'd be in such a long process, but she kept on for a bit.

 I had visions of us canning together about ten years from now. 

Please, please let her still enjoy my company then.  

Her eyes look really tired in this picture...