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mom > recipes grapevines and so forth many more years ago than i can remember i bought
grapevines for rv's birthday. he set the steel
posts and stretched wire parallel to the garage so
the vines could grow on a fence like in real
vineyards. sometime later on the vines grew taller
so wires were stretched across the patio from the
garage to the house, probably about 1983 when the
new porch was built, so the clotheslines no longer
occupied the patio and the italian garden was born.
at some point the xmas lights were twined among the
vines and wires and have been there year round ever
since. gardening books show you, with diagrams how to
prune grapevines. somehow these vines manage to
produce up to 100 pounds of grapes, surviving
neglect, drought, radical pruning while the grapes
are picked in september. that's the most practical
time because you know what's dead, what produced or
not. other pruning is done as needed to keep the
kitchen door accessible or to be able to walk under
them. six footers usually need to duck and watch
their heads! never seem to find the right season to
rebuild or make a real arbor, just add more wire,
twine or long poles to prop up the canopy. one time not to prune is late spring. when the
grapes are setting and the sap is up, you can hear
it drip in the evening quiet. the only fertilizer
they have received is the wood ash from the
bonfires by the driveway. they do not get diseased
or wormy or buggy. they ripen after september1st sometime, we aim
at labor day weekend. too late and many are lost by
falling off. too early and too many are still
green. the bunches do not ripen evenly so you
always lose some. so picking begins. pruning clippers, flat boxes
saved from june strawberry picking or the big blue
enamel turkey roaster, flat cake pans, dish
strainer lined with newspaper. since they are now
mostly overhead, one uses a stepladder or a sturdy
lawn chair or a stool or a woodblock among the
growth along the garage. one does not grasp the bunch of grapes for fear
of bees, and one prefers a breezy day to keep away
the mosquitos (and bees). the cardinal who nests on
the top of the old swingset that supports the north
end flutters away while you are invading her
territory. morning seems to be a good time to pick
and wear a cap or bandana to keep your hair from
snagging in the vines. so the grapes get picked, mostly by mom. rv
puttered at picking them. sometimes more, sometimes
less, but he watered them all summer. the jelly and
juice production fell to me (mom). first they are
dumped into the sink, rinsed and stemmed (that's
the part i/emily did! ugh!) and thrown into the
roaster, set on the 2 right burners of this
faithful old stove. some water is added and as they
heat up to a simmer they are mashed down, and
cooked some more. as the mess becomes more liquid
the fire is lowered and the skimming begins.
dipping the juice off the top pouring it thru a
colander without mashing, to get the clearest,
least pulpy juice -- this is for the juice. as you dip the pulpier part, it gets mashed
thru, so it thicker. this is for the jelly. so
there are several kettles, bowls, colanders. all in
use for the slow straining process. i seldom use
the cloth bag straining method, it took too long
and i'm not a purist making clear jelly. after the juice is strained, maybe more than
once to get the juice more clear, one kettle is set
to boil up, sugar is added, and at the same time, a
flat cake pan is set on one burner for the jars,
lids and rings to be sterilized. so it can be a hot
job, depending on september's weather. much was
done at night, since it is time consuming, and
there were the regular family needs of the day.
meals were prepared in the middle of this and then
the years of teaching, leaving the evening the only
time to do it. many times this WAS the labor day
weekend. the juice was made first from the first
strainings, then the jelly. straight from the sure
jell package instructions - guaranteed success. put
in the sure jell, bring it to a boil, then add 7
cups of sugar. bring to "a full rolling boil that
will not be stirred down" boil for 1 minute, shut
off the fire, stir to break down the bubbles. then
skim off what's still foamy. pour into sterilized
jars. leave 1/2 inch for melted wax, be sure rim is
clear of jelly. screw on hot sterilized lids. the
lids are only necessary to keep out critters (one
year before lids the mice enjoyed several jars). by
now it's 10:30 or 11pm and the sink is full of pans
and bowls and rv is still watching tv, reading
and/or doing puzzles. in recent years the jars are new ones, or garage
sale finds because most of the jelly is given away
so a new supply is needed every year. that made for
the webbs and jonathan's household is in larger
jars for the great consumers! |
