Muscadine Grape Jam

Well, here are the fruits of our labor! A little more than we needed, I think. Grape jam has to be made in small batches and each one is labor intensive, as I found out. You have to remove the pulp from the skin and process them separately. They look like slimy eyeballs. Madeline loved this part!

This is my beautiful Blue Book where I get all my canning recipes. All 3 of them, so far. :-)

When we were at the vineyard the caretaker asked me where I get my grape jam recipe. I told him out of the Blue Ball Book. (instead of Ball blue book). I only realized much later what I said. OMGoodness!!! Al had a good laugh over that one! Anyways, it is a wonderful comprehensive how-to manual for anything you want to can. I know Target still has it in their canning aisle but I believe it may be seasonal. It is only $5. I highly recommend it! I had trouble getting it to gel and believe it was because I boiled it "soft" for too long and I should have boiled it HARD for a shorter amount of time. Whatever! I had to fix it by adding more and more pectin. It took a reeeeealy long time! It was my first batch, so I won't give up. I am tempted to just stick with freezer jam! :-) It took me a long time to learn to make a decent gravy, so sometimes the best things take a while to perfect! Incidentally, my pots sure look shiny in this picture! Al bought them for me for Valentine's Day. I love them! They are super heavy and cook wonderfully. They are EmerilWare for All Clad, if you wondering.

All filled up! Just 4 short hours later. sheesh. They look pretty in a row, don't they? Mighty tasty, too! Have a great day!