Jelly, Jelly, Jelly

Happy Friday!  Another week, come and gone.  This was a busy one for us.  The fair, swim lessons, supper with friends.  I’m ready for a relaxing weekend – hope I get one!

Yesterday was a great day at swim lessons!  Aiden and Brennan both went off the diving board!  Brennan was lowered into the water by another instructor down to his instructor in the water, so it wasn’t exactly a ‘jump’.  But Aiden!  Wow, that boy JUMPED off the diving board! 3 times!!!  He loved it!  So glad he conquered his fear and went for it!

We had a great day with Baby Aspen.  She’s still the happiest baby I know, so easy to take care of!  She’s 8 months old already.  She wants nothing to do with crawling or being on her tummy, but she loves standing up.  She’ll be an early walker I think.

Now for my jelly post. 

First and foremost, buy a box of fruit pectin (SureJell or Mrs. Wages Fruit Pectin are the choices in these parts) and read the directions all the way through.  Get familiar with the steps because it can go fast and you don’t want to mess it up because you didn’t pre-measure the sugar.

You start by cooking down your fruit.  The directions called for 14 cups of Black Raspberries, I just dumped all I had in the pan and prayed it’d be enough.  Add 1/2 c. water and bring it to a boil.  Use a potato masher to mash the fruit while it’s warming up and boiling to help extract the juice.

During this process get your jelly jars washed up in hot hot soapy water.

Get some cheese cloth ready for pouring your fruit and juice into.  I used my mom’s handy dandy gizmo to aid in the process.  I just lined it with my cheese cloth (folded so it was 4 layers thick).  If you don’t have one of these at your fingertips (who does?) just line a bowl with it.

After your fruit has been brought a boil and is thoroughly mashed, pour it into your cheesecloth.  Bring the corners up and start twisting, taking care to not let any of the fruit come out of the top.  Keep twisting and squeezing until you  have all of the juice extracted.

This recipe calls for 4 c. of juice.  If you don’t get enough juice (say 1/2 – 3/4 c. short) pour a little water over the fruit and re-squeeze it.

Prepare your hot water bath canner so it will be boiling and ready to can the jelly when it’s been jarred.  You don’t want it sitting around in jars jelling up while you’re waiting for your water to boil.  Also put your canning lids in some water and bring those to a boil, then shut them off.  Get your sugar measured (5 1/2 c. for this batch) and set aside because when it’s time for your sugar you want it right there ready to go. 

Pour your juice into your pan and add your packet of fruit pectin.  Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. When it is at a full rolling boil add your sugar. 

Stir constantly until at a full rolling boil again.  Take it off the stove and skim off the foam that gathers on top.  Next, pour it into your clean jelly jars. 

Wipe off the rims of the jars, then put on your lids and jar rings, snug them up.  Put them on the rack in your canner (that has boiling water in it), then lower it in. 

Once it is back to a boil set your timer for 5 minutes.  When that goes off pull the canner off the heat and let it sit 5 minutes. Then remove your jars, set them on a cooling rack or towel.  Wait and listen for all the lids to POP.  The best sound when canning!  DO NOT push down the lids to make them seal, that is a no-no in canning. And there you have it!  Jelly!

Sounds like a lot of steps, but the whole process (which included me running up and down the stairs to bring up all my supplies) only took me 1 hr. 20 min.  Well worth the time and effort when I slap some of that delicious jelly on my toast every morning!

Have a great weekend!

Erin