Sticky Floor & Liquid Gold

I've been slaving away in the kitchen for two days and I'm finally set free! We had a bumper crop of grapes this year, which meant I actually had to do something with them. Last year we only got one small bucket of grapes - the birds ate the rest. But, after some pruning advice from Dad and little more water, we ended up with several bushels of grapes from our one grape vine. We were not prepared for so many - we had expected the birds to take care of them again this year. I guess there were too many for the birds to keep up. This picture is only about half of what we actually picked. (I hadn't thought of posting my grape adventure on my blog until I was already halfway through the juicing process.)

I was given the job of juicing and canning the grapes. Now, I'm not a die hard canner, so I actually had to purchase jars (gasp) and borrow a juicer and canner from a friend (double gasp). I've helped my mom do grape juice, have done it once before on my own, and have memories of a hot, sticky, messy job. Robyn and I did grape juice years ago. One or both of us must have been pregnant, so I may remember it worse than it really was. But, I was not looking forward to the job.

This is the set up. No, I'm not brewing beer. It really is grape juice. For those who have never done grape juice, it's really not that hard. The juicer has three sections. The bottom section is full of water, the middle section collects the juice and has a tube to drain the juice into jars, the top section is where the grapes go. The top section is like a colander where the grapes steam and the juice drips through to the middle section. All you need to do is wash the grapes and chuck the grapes, stems and all, into the juicer. After letting it steam for a bit, just fill the jars. I do squish the grapes a little at the end just to make sure all the juice is out, but other than that, it's pretty hands-off. I was extra careful in handling the hot jars, which if dropped, can be a disaster. Robyn can attest to this. We (probably me) dropped a full, hot jar of purple grape juice on the floor, splattering the cupboards, counters, oven, and us. Being in a rental, I thought for sure my rental deposit was a goner. After a lot of "Clorox Clean-up", the kitchen survived, but my memory was scarred. Thankfully, my grapes now are white Concord, so no staining factor - just sticky.

After juicing comes the processing/sealing of the jars. I ended up with 35 quarts of this liquid gold - not bad for one grape vine. It's always a satisfying feeling to see sealed jars sitting on the counter. Now all I have to do is tackle my sticky floor.