:) Making Grape Juice

What do you do with all those ripe grapes?


The grapes grown in Northwest Arkansas aren't the same as those you get in the grocery store.  They are full of flavor, but they're also full of seeds and have a tough skin.  I can only eat a few of them.  

They're delicious...just not worth the work - squish the inside out of the skin, suck the skin, toss it, work to separate out the many little seeds, spit them out, finally chew up the good insides. 
Thanks to my sister-in-law, we learned how to make juice!   It's supposed to take a couple of weeks, but we had a sample.  It was delicious!

• Pick a big bucket of grapes.
• Wash, rinse, wash, rinse, wash, rinse, dry.
• Remove grapes from stems.
• Wash jars and rings in dishwasher.
• Bring canning bath to boil.
• Boil another pot of water. Boil sealing lids.

• Put 2 cups of grapes into hot jars.
• Add 1/2 cup sugar.
• Fill jars with boiling water.
• Top with hot lid and ring.
• Turn over once to mix sugar.

• Boil in canning bath for 10 minutes.
• Remove from water.
• Listen for the little "Pop!" so you'll know they're sealed.
• After two weeks, pour through a strainer and enjoy!

What a lot of fun (ok and a lot of hard, hot work) this was!  I can hardly wait to try it! 

Hmmmm.... I wonder if I should avoid driving after my first drink of this stuff... just in case it doesn't turn out to be just plain old grape juice!  :)