I bought a shit ton of pomegranates a while ago ($10 for a big flat of them!). I ate about half of them raw and the rest were sitting the fruit bowl on the verge of turning bad. Last night I cracked each of them open, extracted the juice by hand using a cheese cloth and added some pectin, a whole vanilla bean, a bit of lemon juice and a gods awful amount of sugar. Had my jars all boiled up and made my very first batch of jelly!
Turned out fabulous. I was so scared I wouldn't get the seal on the jars, but after pulling them out of their boiling bath the lids began to snap and seal up!
Now I'm day dreaming about all the canning I'll be doing over the summer and during harvest. There will be so many blackberries, I'll probably get sick of them. I did find a very nice recipe at the library for a pumpkin jam, with vanilla, honey and rum! How good does that sound?
I think I'll be doing Imbolc in the backyard, what better place to encourage/celebrate the stirring of spring? I also need to begin preparing the raised beds! I got my ship notification for the grow lights, finally. Goodness, I cant wait for green things!
Turned out fabulous. I was so scared I wouldn't get the seal on the jars, but after pulling them out of their boiling bath the lids began to snap and seal up!
Now I'm day dreaming about all the canning I'll be doing over the summer and during harvest. There will be so many blackberries, I'll probably get sick of them. I did find a very nice recipe at the library for a pumpkin jam, with vanilla, honey and rum! How good does that sound?
I think I'll be doing Imbolc in the backyard, what better place to encourage/celebrate the stirring of spring? I also need to begin preparing the raised beds! I got my ship notification for the grow lights, finally. Goodness, I cant wait for green things!
If you add a couple slices of an unripe apple it will break down within the jam and create pectin. You don't really taste it either so it wont upset the flavor :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/The_Forager/pectin.htm
Oh nice. I live in apple country, so that'll be perfect come harvest time :D
ReplyDeleteI made strawberry jam yesterday - it's strawberry time in Florida. Pomegranate jelly sounds wonderful! Will definitely have to try it.
ReplyDeleteI never worry about the seal, that always works, it the setting of the jelly/jam that I worry about.
What a lovely offering for Persephone and Hekate!