Grape and Apple Jelly/Jam

Mom was sweet to bring me some wonderful Concord grapes from a neighbor at her house. They, of course, have seeds and I'm not fond of grapes with seeds. But they taste fabulous!! Time to make some jelly and preserve that wonderful flavor!  And when I was home for Bridget's bridal shower, she gave me some apples from the ancient apple tree in the yard.  (I'm 53 and I always remember that tree, so it must be a pretty old specimen!!)

Just cut up and put in a pot to simmer.

A good while later - nice and mushy.

Put the mixture thru the food mill to remove all the stems and peelings.

Yucky looking!

And here's the result - applesauce and all the peelings to go to compost.

Then I strained the applesauce for hours to render a pretty pinkish juice.

Next up was the grapes - a few were green - I didn't pick them out.  Just washed and put in a pot to simmer.

A little while later - isn't that just beautiful?

I didn't take photos, but I ran that mixture thru the food mill and strained the juice as usual.


So here's what I have to work with - a quart of thick grape juice and a little over a pint of thick applejuice.  I didn't strain it thru cheesecloth because I like my "jelly" to be a little closer to "jam" - in other words, I like little bits of the fruit to still be present.  It just makes the jelly a little "softer" to spread.

Mixed together,  the apple and grape juice heating up.

Seven cups of sugar!!! 

A nice rolling boil....and once it's just right...

Ladled into hot, sterile jars.  (Glad mom gave me a grape-jelly colored dish towel at Christmas last year!  No visible stains!)

And I'll tell you - the jelly is some of the tastiest ever!!