Since I am probably the coolest gal west of the Mississippi, you know what I spent my Friday night doing? Making jam. That’s right. With all of my girl friends. Are you shocked by our clear demonstration of amazingness yet?
 |
| Source |
Awhile back, my mom told me that she wasn’t going to make wine this year because she has so many bottles left over from last season. My parents have a bunch of grape vines in their backyard, and it seemed such a waste to let the grapes all shrivel up without being made into anything tasty! I was telling my friend Cindy this one day, and since she truly is the next Martha Stewart (girlfriend can make anything!) she suggested we make jam. It all began with the box-full of grapes that I cut from the vines yesterday:
You probably don’t want to know how long it took me to cut all of these from the vine, and subsequently, how long it took 3 women to de-stem them. Probably more time than any sane person would ever spend with a box of grapes!
After that, we threw all the grapes in a pot and reduced them down. We spent a lot of time mashing them to make sure we got all of the juices out.
After the grapes were reduced as far as they would go, we strained them. First of all, these grapes have major seeds, and although Craig and Brandy both said we should just eat them, we decided that probably wasn’t our best bet. Something about crunchy seeds on my morning bagel didn’t quite appeal to me, you know? Because we reduced the grapes down so far, I suppose we probably made more of a jelly than a jam, but whatever. My snack, my rules!
Anyway, we then added all the sugar and the pectin and brought it back to a boil on the stove. After that was ready, we got to put it in the jars which was my favorite part. It made me feel like I actually was doing something very domestic!
Last but not least, we stuck the full jars in some boiling water on the stove for like 10 minutes. I guess this is what creates the vacuum seal. Again, I am no where near cool enough to have known all this on my own! Brandy, Angel, and I were truly just following Cindy’s lead. Seriously, she is the only woman I know with three advanced degrees who seriously should open her own bakery or catering company or something. She’s pretty darn amazing!
Ironically enough, I never took any pictures of the completed jars! Whoops. Whatever, you’ll just have to take my word for it. I’ll probably crack some open tomorrow with my breakfast and I am pretty excited about it!
You know who else was excited? These guys!
Yup, we made jam with five dogs under foot! Cindy and Craig have two of their own (Piglet and Steel) and Angel brought her two (Max and Molly). Max is the giant beast of a lab that is jumping like 85 feet higher than the rest. He is seriously the only dog I’ve ever met whose eyes actually visibly dialate when he sees food! It’s freaking hysterical!! Of course, I brought Tals, so we seriously had a menagerie going on. Ridiculous.
Know what else is pretty ridiculous? The fact that it is going to be 85 and sunny today and I have to spend the entire day indoors, studying and doing some homework. I am so far behind in school right now and need to really crack down this weekend. It’s depressing.
In light of this depression, I have two favors of y’all:
How did you spend your Friday night? Any chance you made jam, too?!
5 Comments
I went to a Mary Kay party at my cousins house and stayed up late doing a lot of nothing 🙂
i love making my own jam. I made peach, strawberry, raspberry, and apple butter this year. So good!
Did you hear the one about the roof?
nevermind…it’s over your head!
Did I tell you the one about the jumprope?
Ahhhhh…skip it!
Okay… now here’s one of my favorite off-color jokes (an Irish accent must be used when speaking as Seamus)…
There was an American traveler in Ireland. He was traipsing about the country in search of pub experiences. In a little village, he saw THE quintessential Irish pub and went inside for a pint.
He sat at the bar, one stool over from a somewhat drunken and somewhat disgruntled looking man. He ordered his pint, and just as he was swallowing his first draught, the man spoke.
“Yeh see this barrrrrrr?” he said, patting/banging on the bar with his hands. “I built this barrrrrr. I went to the forrrrrest by meself. I chopped down the trees. I hewed the planks and smoothed ’em out. Aye… I built this barrrrr with me own hands. BUT… do they call me Seamus the Barrrrr Builderrrrrrr? Noooo.”
The traveler nodded in sympathetic agreement, and complete bewilderment, and continued to try to enjoy his pint.
Seamus spoke again.
“Yeh see thet wall out therrrrrrre?” he said, gesticulating out the window and toward a lovely, quintessential Irish countryside stone wall. “I built thet wall. I quarried and shaped the stones. I dregged them to the site. I mixed the morrrrtarrrrr. Aye… I built thet wall with me own hands. BUT… do they call me Seamus the Wall-Builderrrrrr? Nooooo.
“But yeh fuck one goat…”
***********
Okay… that’s just about the best I’ve got.
I found your blog through several clicks through other blogs, but I’m glad I found it! I’ve been looking for other Colorado blogs to read 🙂 Your jam/jelly sounds delish!
Heather, if you didn’t get a Pinterest invite yet, send me your email and I will send one to you. I think I know how to do that~
#1 Why didn’t the mummy answer the phone?
He was all tied up!
#2 You did it! Renamed your blog and changed the site!! It looks fab. You’ll have to fill me in on the details!
#3 I like that there was a Monster in the background of you jelly pictures! haha.