No Sour Grapes Here

Several years ago a friend gifted us with a grape vine - a "Southern" sweet muscadine grape.  We planted it and it did absolutely nothing.  It sat in its comfortable little patch of dirt, trained to grow on a split rail fence and looked pretty.  No fruit to speak of, maybe a handful of grapes every year but nothing more.

Then about five years ago I asked my husband to build an arbor for that grape vine.  He did, we removed the fence and trained it to grow on the new structure.  Holy Cow!!  It took off like Moody's Goose - you have heard that, right?  It means fast in southern speak.  That grape vine grew and grew, and it was loaded with grapes.  I felt a little like Jack and the magic bean!  We trim it back every winter and then every spring it is covered in new growth and by summer it is almost beyond control.  We have extended the arbor once and could do so again.  I am talking ONE vine here people.

My Holy Cow Grape Vine

So three nights ago I ventured into the arbor and filled a bowl of this beautiful fruit in just a matter of minutes.  Having made jelly from these sweet grapes before, I decided to make more this year.  Yesterday that is what I did.  It is a simple process and takes less time than one would think.  The important thing is to have all your equipment and ingredients together before you start.  The first step is to get the juice from the fruit.  So after washing the fruit dump it into a large pot and add enough water to bring to a boil.  Use a potato masher to "smush" the fruit as it cooks.  You don't want to cook the water out, but instead mash the fruit and add water if needed.  Then add the fruit to a strainer over a large bowl and let the juice drain.  Mash the fruit to extract more juice.  You can also do this using cheesecloth, but a strainer works fine.  Let it sit to insure you have all the juice.  Now here is the great part...if you don't want to make your jelly after doing this step, then measure your juice, fill freezer bags or containers with it and pop in the freezer until you are ready to
use.  Then just thaw the juice and proceed with the next steps.  My
friend Vickie taught me this trick and I have done it - works beautifully.
But today I finished, so here are the next steps.  Make sure your jelly jars are
clean and keep them hot in a pot of water, or dishwasher.  Put your jar
lids in a pot of simmering water, have a large pot of water hot to place the jars in after filling and sealing.  Measure 5 cups of juice into a clean pot, add 1 tsp. lemon juice,
1 box of powder pectin and stir to dissolve.  Bring to a rolling boil, stirring
constantly.  Add 7 cups (I know) of sugar and stir.  Bring this to a boil and
cook for 1 minute - exactly.  Remove from heat and ladle into jars.  Seal
and place jars in a water bath making sure they are covered and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove and
wait for that "pop" to know your jars are sealed.  If one does not seal - put
it in the refrigerator to use first.  

 This jelly is great with biscuits, toast or if you want to use it as
an appetizer, put out a plate of crackers, blue cheese and a dish of this.  The sweet jelly with the tartness of the cheese is amazing!

You can readily purchase muscadine grapes at the grocery this time of year, but growing your own fruit and then using it this way is rewarding! 

And to think, all it took was an arbor!

Afternoon Shadows

Here it is August 27, and I tried I really did.  But, as strong as I like to think I am I caved.  Yes, I lit my Baked Apple Cinnamon candle in August.

You see, having the OCD personality that I do, there has to be an order to things.  August is summer and you do not light an autumn candle in the summer.  Things such as this are relegated to September and beyond.  But then again you would have to understand how very much I LOVE autumn and all that it means.  Maybe it is because I was an autumn baby.  Whatever the reason, it is my season.

It is the crispness in the morning air, the breeze that catches the scent of wood burning in a fireplace or better yet outdoor fire pit.  It is the knowledge that I can get in my car and drive less than two hours and be in the north Georgia mountains and enjoy the changing of the leaves and buy a bushel of apples - Arkansas Blacks being my favorite.  It means my jeans once again become the staple of my wardrobe and if they are paired with a great pair of boots then all the better.  It means college football on Saturday!  It means planting even more daffodil bulbs in my yard so they will bloom come spring.  Crock pots filled with chili, sweaters, pumpkins, long walks in the woods, fried pies, the anticipation of the approaching holidays and candles.  YES, candles.  Apple for September and pumpkin for October.  Once again, there must be an order to these things.  And I blew it!  I caved and lit the apple candle in August.  And why....I will tell you.

It was the afternoon shadows.  I was in my kitchen after a trip to the grocery store.  I had purchased my new apple candle and even the trunk smelled good when I opened it.  I came inside to put up my groceries and looked out the window...there they were.  The shadows spilling onto my grass and across the deck.  It looked like a fall afternoon.

 

Yes, those shadows were beautiful - the sun playing with them through the trees and causing them to dance across my yard.  I thought why not, it will be September in just a few days.  I lit the candle and love it.  My kitchen is filled with the incredible scent of apples and it reminds me that autumn is not that far away.  I can wait if I must.

Stirring Up Memories

My last post was about picking berries with my husband and cousin.  So many beautiful berries and figs and what to do?  I shared blueberries with my neighbor, my daughter-in-law, my mom, and a friend.  I made jam and I froze a gallon of berries.  I just can see a warm blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream on an autumn day...

But, today I want to tell you about the figs.  I didn't have nearly as many of those but they were beautiful and I wanted to do something spectacular with them.  I succeeded!

I was browsing the web for recipes using figs in sauces, preserves and jams and came across this website:
Balsamic Fig Preserves With Rosemary | Foodwise Northwest


All the fresh ingredients for Balsamic Fig Preserves with rosemary

I happened to have on hand all the required ingredients, including my wonderful rosemary.  It was one of the easiest preserves I have ever made.  The hardest part was just tasting as I went and not eating the entire batch!  I had guests over this past weekend and served this with goat cheese and crackers as an appetizer and got rave reviews.  Mission (no fig pun intended) accomplished.


The beautiful figs we picked

The preserves as they cooked

The finished product

I hope you will click the link to this recipe and make this wonderful rich preserve.  You will be glad you made these preserves and you will look like the perfect hostess when you serve these!