Seeing Purple

Last week on my way back from stitch I stopped at Ranalli Farms on the west end of Tontitown, Arkansas, on Hwy. 412. I always find good fruits, produce and plants there. Well this time I came home with a bushel of apples and 1/2 bushel of Mars grapes.

 They are a seedless grape,  color like concord but smaller. Which are very tasty. I also did not realize that a 1/2 bushel of grapes equal 18 lbs. That means I was searching for more than just a jam recipe. I first made Grape Catchup, this recipe is from one of my favorite blog, Foods In Jars. It is a sauce that is really nothing related to tomato catchup. It's more in the way of a plum sauce.  It is sweet and tangy with a kick of spice, very good. Suggested that it could be used as a dipping sauce, or a cooking sauce to put on chicken or pork. I think that is what I'll try first.

http://www.foodinjars.com/2009/05/grape-catchup/

I have so many grapes I decided to make a double batch, boy I believe I have enough sauce for a while.

Then today I made Grape Jam. Beside going online looking I have a lovely Cookbook just for jams.

So I took a recipe in her book but did it my way. Tweaked  the amounts and how I made it. Since I was using a seedless grape I figured why did I need to go through the process of taking the skins off and cooking the pulp. The main purpose I could tell was to get the seeds out of the grapes. Cause once the seeds were removed, in the recipe it tells to put the skins back in with the cooked pulp. Well I decided to just skip that step and add one of mine own. I took half the grapes with half the sugar

 and ran it through the food processor till it became thoroughly pureed.

Then did the other half and put the puree in a pan to cook with the lemon  and orange juice plus the orange rind. Simmer, uncovered until it was able to pass the thick consistency test.

(I did not keep track of time maybe 30 minutes but I think it was longer)

The addition of orange is a wonderful touch, love it

You'll need
4 pounds grape
4 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest from 1/2 orange
1 tsp. fresh orange juice

Makes 4 pints or 8 half pints

I forgot to say that you process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes

I wanted to share a quilt I had made some years back. Which is one of my favorites. At Ranalli's one year I had seen an old quilt, done in this pattern, on the back of a chair in their store.  I fell in love with the simple pattern and the colors in the fabrics that were so soft and faded. So I went home and found the pattern. Commonly called 4-H, simply because that is what a 12 " block is 4 - 6" H's.

 The H's are from 2 1/2" strips. Great way to use up your scraps.

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