Grape Jelly

It has been quite a while since I have posted in my Blog. I apologize to everyone for this. I have been busy with different things. I have been having some test run at the doctors due to reasons God knows of. It seems my heart has been harmed by the stress that has been dealt to me, God knows of it all and that is where it shall stay. Thanks to everyone who is and has been keeping the children and I in your prayers. God is good.

This weekend, Labor Day weekend, the children and I went to visit my parents and brothers. My parents live with my brother Bill and my brother Jim has recently moved in with Bill and my parents after he got divorced. He was married for almost 25 years so it has been hard on him but God is at work in all our lives. This weekend was the warmest weekend weather wise that we have had in quite some time. We have actually had a very mild August with most days ranging in the low to mid 80's degree wise. Normally we have temperatures in the 100's in August. So God has blest us with cooler weather however it has been very dry, almost drought conditions again this summer. We have been praying for rain but so far there is none forth coming. I do thank God for the sprinkles that we received today, though.

I am also thankful that my parents and brother Bill sent me home with some fresh produce that we picked from their garden. I did not get to have a garden this year, God knows why and that is where it will stay. One thing they sent me home with was some Concord grapes we picked from the vines on Sunday morning, before it got too hot outside. They were so beautiful in color and smelled so good. In spite of the lack of rain that we have had, the grapes were surprisingly plump and juicy. I brought two shopping bags home filled with those Concord grapes.

So today I taught the children how to make fresh grape juice and fresh homemade grape jelly. I am thankful that I am blest by God in being able to home school my children. They both had a good lesson in home economics today. We started out by picking each grape off the cluster stem and washing them. Then we drained them in a colander to get any excess water off of them. The stems I discarded in the trash but any grapes that were too ripe or smashed I put in a bucket to give to our chickens. After draining the excess water off the grapes the children helped me put the grapes in a big cold pack canner and mashed them up with a potato masher. They had fun doing this.

Next I placed that big ole' canner on the stove to heat. When the grapes started to simmer I timed it for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes was up we smashed the grapes some more with the potato masher, then simmered it for 5 more minutes. I had an old colander that I placed a piece of muslin in and filled it with some of the grapes then let it cool. After it had cooled enough to handle I set about squeezing the juice out of the grapes. First I smashed them with a wooden spoon to get as much juice out through the muslin as I could before I had to start twisting the muslin up in order to squeeze out any remaining juice. When I had squeezed out all the juice I could through the muslin squeeze technique, anyone who has ever made homemade grape juice or jelly will understand what I mean, I emptied the pulp and seeds into a mesh strainer and smashed the mess again to get any remaining juice out I could then I discarded the pulpy mess in the chicken bucket. Then I repeated the whole process with fresh grapes again about 4 or 5 more times. We ended up with 4 quarts of fresh grape juice. I probably could have gotten more out of the grapes but I have carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis in my hands and it is a bit hard to squeeze really tight sometimes. Any way I felt good about our day of juice making.

But next I wanted to make some fresh homemade grape jelly. I had told my mom when we were picking the grapes that my intent was to make grape jelly with those grapes. Once I set my mind to something that is exactly what I do, I do what I say I will. So I measured 5 cups of the fresh grape juice into a large sauce pan and added a box of Sure Jell pectin. After I mixed it in I measured out 7 cups of granulated sugar into a bowl and set it aside to add to the juice mixture later. I got my jars all washed and sterilized for the jelly and set everything up for when the jelly would be ready to pour in the jars. Then I set about the cooking process. I heated the juice until it came to a rolling boil then added the sugar and stirred it all up. I had to constantly stir, with a long handled wooden spoon, the whole time so the juice would not stick or burn. I had to get the juice back up to a rolling boil and let it boil for exactly one minute. So Elizabeth is timing the minute while I am stirring the juice/jelly mixture on the hot stove. Zak is amused by the whole process of course as he sees all this steam coming from the large sauce pan and me sweating away, toiling over it.

The minute is up and I remove the jelly from the heat, set it aside to cool just a little until the skim forms on top. After the skim formed I took a metal spoon, as this is always what my Mamaw, Grandmother and Mom had always taught me to use a metal spoon only, to skim the skim off the jelly. Once I had the skim removed and set aside in a bowl I placed the jelly jars in a metal pan of hot water. The reason this is done is so the jars will be warm not cold when the hot jelly is poured into them as pouring hot liquid into a cold glass jar will cause the jars to crack or break. The children and I ladled the jelly into the jars and carefully wiped the rims of the jars to remove any spilled jelly. Then we set the jars aside to cool a little while we cleaned up our mess. Believe me it was a mess as we had grape juice splatters everywhere, floor, counters, stove, walls you name it. I even ruined my white tee shirt, that I forgot to put an apron over when we started the whole juice/jelly making process. Oh well it was fun.

After we cleaned up I melted some paraffin wax to place in each jar over the jelly to seal it . Then we placed lids over the jars and set them tight and placed them in the cabinet for storage. Next I got out some fresh whole grain bread and we had grape jelly sandwiches. The children really liked the jelly, especially since they had helped make it. Elizabeth said it was better than candy, now that is a compliment. Zak loved the fresh grape juice the best though. God is good.

Just making the juice and jelly, together, brought back so many wonderful memories for me. I grew up on a family farm. I was raised to work the land, to grow our own food and to make jellies, jams, breads, can and preserve things. We even butchered our own meat and hunted for some of it. I truly miss the life I had when I was growing up. We were self sufficient because God had blest us with the means and ability to do so. We always gave the Lord the praises for all we had as we truly knew that everything came from Him. Some of my fondest memories are when my mom and family and I were making juices, jams, jellies , preserving and canning things. We shared some quality family time plus we were all learning how to do things. I thank God for what my mother and dad taught me in the way of taking care of yourself if you have to. God provides for us if we will accept what He has to offer us. I have been blest, I know, with caring parents and grandparents who cared enough to teach me of God/Jesus and how to do so many things with what God has given us. There is just something special about being able to make your own jellies, jams, juices, preparing and preserving/canning the produce that God has supplied one with in their gardens and land.

I am thankful that I have a family who cares enough to provide me with fresh produce knowing that I was not able to have my garden this year. God has blest me so much with such caring friends and family. Sister Pat and Brother Jimmy, my Pastor and his wife, have given me green beans, cucumbers and peppers this year as they knew I could not have my garden. My neighbors gave me apples and peaches and berries. It is just that the people I have given produce from my garden , the years I was able to have one, gave me produce when I was not able to have a garden. I miss not having my garden as does my son and daughter but God knew this and He placed it in the hearts of others to supply us with fresh produce. That is such a wonderful blessing to know that God cares and that so many others care as well. I am so thankful and I sing His praises always and in all ways. God is awesome.

I am just so thankful for all the wonderful memories that were brought back when the children and I made the juice and jelly today. I am thankful that I got to share this with my children and was able to teach them how to make grape juice and grape jelly. God blesses us in so many ways and with so many opportunities to make wonderful memories with our children while we are here on this earth with them. My daughter said it right when I was trying to explain how I felt when I took that first bite of fresh grape jelly on that bread," It brings back wonderful feelings and memories to you Mom of when you grew up and how things are meant to be, the way they used to be." I told her yes. That a lot of people would not know how to do many things if something happened and they had to go back to the way things used to be. But I am thankful to God that I still know and am able to teach my own children the way to take care of themselves if the need ever arises, with, in and through Jesus Christ. The good things, such as these come from the Lord . We use what God has given us and make the most of it and pass it down from generation to generation as God intends for it to be done. The good things that we teach our children of God and His ways and how we need to be prepared for the possibility of taking care of ourselves and our families, as God intends for us to, is a gift from God.

I am old fashioned in a lot of ways, I know. But I thank God for this. I would rather be old fashioned and know how to do things for my family as God intends for me to do instead of being lost to and in the world and it's ways. I rely on God not on the world or it's ways. God has never led me wrong but the world, the devil and their way will lead a person wrong every time. Remember that God has no part with this world that He is separate from it just as He has called us, His children to be separate from the world. He tells us to come out from amongst it.

The following passages of scripture are some scriptures that the Lord Jesus has laid upon my heart. I wanted to share them with you. I hope they speak to some, of what we should truly hold as important to us and that is the Lord and all that is of the Lord. That is what we should hold dear, the Lord and his Way.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18

17)Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

18)And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Romans 12:2

2)And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

James 4:4

4)Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

1 John 2:15-17

15)Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16)For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17)And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Take the time to teach your children something that is good and something they will remember with fond memories and want to pass on to their children in generations to come, if the Lord so wills us to have generations to come.

May you all have a blest day and a blessed week ahead.