Hi! Did you know we have grape vines? And do you like how I just jumped right into random grape discussion with no lead-in? I'm not feeling very subtle today.
BUT ANYWAY.
Yes, we have grapes. Many grapes. A total of I think five vines that were planted a long time ago, and so are pretty big at this point. All except one are Concord grapes. I don't know what the different one is--I'd have to ask the MiL. But Concord grapes are the variety grown most often around here, because they were developed in Massachusetts from the wild grapes that flourish in the woods, twining around trees and choking the life out of any plant too weak to stand up to their onslaught.
Bullies.
BUT ANYWAY AGAIN.
Now, some people like to just eat them, but I am not a fan of eating Concord grapes on their own. They have tiny seeds in them that have to just be swallowed with the rest of the grape, and an oddly slimy texture that I find unappealing. Also, they're fairly tart. Not at all like the red globe grapes you might buy at the store, is what I'm getting at. Despite my reluctance to eat them plain, however, I do love the grapes for another use: juice. I LOVE the juice.
This was surprising to me, because I never used to like commercial grape juice. I don't know what kind of grape Welch's uses to make their regular grape juice, but I guess it isn't Concord. Unless they've just hit on a clever marketing campaign for an old product. See, last summer I started seeing commercials for a grape juice labeled as 100% Concord grape juice. The commercial made much of the health benefits of Concord grape juice, harping on poly phenols and other science-y sounding things that were meant to impress people into buying it. To save their health. No mention was made of the sugar content in that juice, but I bet it was incredibly high. Healthy, indeed.
Commercial grape juice is insipidly sweet. It tastes, to me, like liquid Jolly Ranchers*. Gross. But the juice I make from our grapes is way less sweet, because of course I control the amount of sugar that I add to it. For a quart of juice (that's the straight juice cut with some water, I mean), I add maybe 4 tablespoons of sugar. It's sweet enough to drink, but with a tart aftertaste that I, personally, find addicting.
And to end on a completely random note . . . the sheep LOVE to eat grape leaves.
Okay, bye! (See, still not subtle.)
* Wikipedia explanation of Jolly Ranchers here, for those of you who may not be familiar with this particular candy.
13 comments:
If you harvest them after it freezes you will get that incredibly sweet grape juice. Do you steamer siphon thing to get clear juice or just let the cream of tartar settle to the bottom of the juice?
I was enjoying your whole entry until I became distracted when you mentioned Jolly Ranchers. As a kid, I lived for Jolly Ranchers Red Hot Sticks. Those were the days!
Boy, the things I learn from blogland, your blog particularly. Hmmmm!
I love a cold glass of grape juice (white grape juice or cran-grape, EVEN BETTER). I forgot about my love of Jolly Ranchers until now...remember the watermelon sticks? Those were the days.
(BTW, I am not normally a jellybean fan, but Jolly Rancher jellybeans? WORTHY.)
Wait - there's cream of tartar in grape juice?!
tartaric acid, actually.
Sheila: I don't bother about getting clear juice. In fact, I even SQUEEZE THE JUICE BAG. Horrors.
For J.T. and most other people that don't make their own juice, because really, who DOES that?: The tartaric acid makes dark crystals that will settle onto the bottom of the jar eventually. It looks a little like sludge. Nothing wrong with it, just not as aesthetically pleasing, I guess. And squeezing the bag, as opposed to just letting all the juice drip out on its own, makes the juice cloudier. Of course, it also results in about half a cup more juice, which is why I say screw the cloudiness and squeeze the bag.
I think Welch's is actually a good product with relatively high business standards. As far as I know, a good part of the Concord grapes in NY state are owner-grown for Welch's. And you can contribute to their Harvest of Help once-a-day until the end of the year with just a click!
http://www.welchs.com/harvest
Here is a recipe for grape juice my mother in law gave me years ago. I have used it and the end product from it is good. No squeezing of grapes required. Put 1 cup grapes in quart jar add water and 1/2 cup sugar. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.
I first made acquaintance with the Concord grape last summer and WHOA was it a time.
I didn't realize that all along, the "fake" grape flavor in things (since I grew up eating the red or green seedless varieties) was actually not fake at all, but instead the imitation of Concord grapes.
OH. Got it.
We got some in the farm share last year and I swear I sat down and ate the whole six bunches in one sitting.
TOO GOOD.
Enjoy your juice.
There are people unfamiliar with Jolly Ranchers?
Really?
@ Mayberry. Yes there are. Me for example. I know, what a deprived life I have led. :D But then again, I bet you don't know what Chappies are or why their wrappers are so cool? :)
@ Kirstin - mmmm grape juice. I will eventually get me some table grape vines. I love grapes. But I can't say I've made juice from them.
I'm just catching up on posts here - but WOW do I love concords! You are so lucky to grow them! You'll have to stop by on Monday when I put up a recipe for grape sorbet- it is out of this world with concords.
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