Bonus: It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

So last week's box gave me these:

Concord grapes, about 13 oz of them. Now here's the thing about concord grapes, they are NOT grapes which are made to be eaten. This is not your lean back on a chaise lounge while a scantily clad brawny young man feeds them too you while fanning you with a palm leave. These grapes are extraordinarily difficult and rather disgusting to eat.

First, there is the skin in all it's thick and chewy glory, then there are the pits which are not meant to be consumed and are surrounded by the only truly edible part of the grape the pulp which clings to the pit like it's life depends on it in some sort of embryonic sac. To eat successfully you need to pop the grape out of it's skin into your mouth, and then trap the pits on the outside of your teeth while you suck strongly on the pulp to get it to release. Then swallow. Like I said, not good eats.

But the flavor, oh the flavor, it brings you right back to child hood. Sweet, heavy and heavenly. Smelling like the first day of school or the end of a really long hike. Something about that flavor tells you it's peanut butter jelly time. And so, come hell or high water I was going to turn those grapes into jelly.
Step one was finding a recipe that didn't seem daunting or involve pectin. I understand that pectin is an important part of preserve making in the modern day kitchen, but to me it just seems like an unnecessary addition. a little time on The Google Machine gave me a good option (along with a recipe for grape pie? weird). unfortunately it calls for 5lbs of grapes, so I had to scale (literally) down. So I sat down with a pen and paper and got to work. The Recipe had 1 cup of sugar per 1 lb of grapes. I had 13oz. 1 cup of sugar weighs grams. 204/16 (for 16 oz in a lb) times 13 gave me 165 grams of sugar.

Math done, I skinned the grapes. Turns out this is not exceptionally difficult. due to the thickness of the grape skins you merely have to pinch the grapes on the end opposite to where the grape attached to the stem and POP out comes the pulp. the annoying part was doing that over and over again until you made it through all the grapes. Oh and it's sticky. But don't worry... it gets stickier.  The Grape skins were put into the small bowl of Taylor and went for a spin with 1/5th of the sugar (33grams).

The mixture was then thrown into the saucepan along with the rest of the sugar, the pulp of the grapes and an unknown amount of lemon juice (my math skills only go so far). About 17 minutes latter and some skimming of the foam off the top, the pulp began to pull away from the pits and it was time to strain the mixture. The recipe suggested using a food mill, I'm fancy but not that fancy so I went once though some cheese cloth and then did a second press of the solids though a fine mesh strainer. Again, sticky sticky clothes dying work. be prepared to get burned, and messy, oh and hungry.

Another 20 or so minutes on the stove top and it was time to test for done-ness. this is done by taking a chilled plate, dotting some of the jelly onto the plate, waiting 1 minute and then tilting the plate. if the jelly stayed in place it was done. Easy peasy (except I forgot to take a picture of it). Final Step is to prep for canning. I got 1 cup of jelly out of the batch. Which I promptly processed for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Let sit on the counter for 24 hours before serving with the appropriate accouterments

The End Result:

THE VERDICT:
Tastes like childhood in a Jar.

The Recipe:
Recipe credit goes to the folks at epicurious.com and can be found HERE.

• 5 lb Concord grapes, stemmed
• 5 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Sterilize jars:

1. Wash jars, lids, and screw bands in hot, soapy water, then rinse well. Dry screw bands. 
2. Put jars on a rack in canner or deep pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, covered, then boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, leaving jars in water. 
3. Heat lids in water to cover by 2 inches in a small saucepan until thermometer registers 180°F (do not let boil). Remove from heat, leaving lids in water. Keep the jars and lids submerged in hot water, covered, until ready to use.

Cook jam:

1. Chill 2 small plates (for testing jam).
2. Slip skins from grapes and purée skins with 1 cup sugar in a food processor, then transfer to a 4- to 6-quart wide heavy pot. 
3. Stir in lemon juice, peeled grapes, and remaining 4 cups sugar and boil over moderate heat, stirring frequently and skimming foam, until pulp is broken down, about 20 minutes. 
4. Force jam through food mill set over a large bowl. Discard remaining solids. Return jam to pot and cook at a slow boil, skimming foam occasionally and stirring frequently as mixture thickens to prevent scorching, 35 minutes, then test for doneness.
5. To test jam, remove from heat, then drop a teaspoonful on a chilled plate and chill 1 minute. Tilt plate: Jam should remain in a mound and not run. If jam runs, continue cooking at a slow boil, testing every 5 minutes, until done, up to 25 minutes more.

Seal, process, and store jars:

1. Drain jars upside down on a clean kitchen towel 1 minute, then invert. Ladle jam into jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at top. Wipe off rims of filled jars with a clean damp kitchen towel, then top with lids and firmly screw on screw bands. Put sealed jars on rack in canner or pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, covered, then boil 10 minutes. With tongs, transfer jars to a towel-lined surface to cool.
2. After jars have cooled 12 to 24 hours, press center of each lid to check that it's concave, then remove screw band and try to lift off lid with your fingertips. If you can't, lid has a good seal. Replace screw band. Put any jars that haven't sealed properly in the refrigerator and use them first.