For the first time in my life, I made jelly. Imagine that. A grandma of 6, and I've never made jelly before! Jams, yes, but even that not very often. But there's a red currant bush next to the house that produces huge amounts of berries, and I've already made 5 dozen batches of Red Currant Muffins, so it was time to try something new. (We still have half of those muffins in the freezer.)
After an Internet search for a recipe, and a few "how to" lessons, I was ready to start. Well, not quite...first I had to go to Bi-Mart and get lids and jars. Then, since I don't have all the necessary canning supplies, I had to look around for things to improvise with. (A turkey roaster worked fine for sterilizing the jars and keeping them hot.) Jelly is made from juice only, not seeds and pulp, so I needed to make a bag for straining the liquid. (Leftover material from a wedding veil worked great!) The jelly making process itself is not difficult, but it sure clutters up the kitchen. And after the jelly is made and poured into jars, it had to be processed in a boiling water bath. (Thank goodness they fit into my largest stockpot.)
Finally it was done. I cleaned up the kitchen (it's kind of messy to ladle hot jelly into little jars.) and stood back to look at the finished product. Beautiful! Sparkling! Delicious! Along with the jars in the photo, there's another quart that just went straight into the fridge.
I always said canning was just not "my thing". I smirked at people who lined up their jars to admire and take photos of. Or talked endlessly about what they had accomplished. So sorry. I'm doing the very same thing. Will I do it again? I don't know. The jelly is wonderful, but I'm still not sure it's "my thing." Maybe that's why I'm going on and on about it...it may not happen again.
Ask for a taste of my jelly when you stop by sometime. I might decide it was worth the effort. I think I'll make juice with the remainder of the berries (yes, there are still more)...and that strainer bag I made will come in handy.
5 comments:
Dorothy,
I just canned for the first time two weeks ago at an enrichment cooking class and it was jams and jellies. I never thought canning would EVER be my thing either. It seemed too much effort, but jams and jellies are so easy comparatively. I was taught that you didn't have to process the jars after pouring the jams and jelly into the jars though. That takes off a step if that's true. And also, there's this little plastic thing that fits on the lids of the jars to make it easier to pour the jelly in (you've probably heard of it, but just in case). I made strawberry-banana, rhubarb and rootbeer jelly (crazy, I know). I'd actually can (jams) again. So weird that I'm saying that. ; )
Does one of those beautiful jars have my name on it ;)
Debbie,
I did some checking, and although the USDA will not officially recommend using the "inversion method" for jams and jellies, it does seem to be one that a lot of people are using. I hesitated trying it for this first batch, because I didn't want any errors. But if inversion works, I might actually make jelly more often since it skips that obnoxious water bath step.
Also, thanks for reminding me about using a plastic funnel. I actually have one, but didn't even think about it. Duh! It would definitely be neater that way!
To Becky:
Come and get it! :)
If you decide to make more, and still process the jars after filling, I have a steamer-canner that is way quicker and easier than a water bath canner. You are welcome to borrow it any time. Maybe I can figure out a way to bring it over on my bike! The jars look wonderful...I'd love to try a taste sometime!
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