Christine Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Hoping for oodles of help! We have a concord grape vine in our yard. We've lived here 3 years, and the 1st year it was so overgrown. . .so I had the brilliant idea of pruning it back. The second year we overrun by grapes! Oh. My. Goodness! And I don't like to just eat them, as they are too sweet. I tried a number of grape pie recipes which were *o-kay*. :glare: We tried grape juice. . .but that was a big flub. (Which is really sad, as all my guys LOVE grape juice.) I thought of making jelly this year. But, I went walking under my vine yesterday, (this vine is on a 6' wide 12' long "arbor" of sorts -- and yes, it covers it) and recognized that we are about to be swamped with grapes again this year. . . I need suggestions / recipes please! Honestly, I think my neighbors were getting sick of me offering them grapes last year. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyX8 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I wish that I lived near you. I LOVE to make concord grape jelly. We moved and didn't get our grapes going yet. So I have to buy them. I think that it cost me around $30 last year. I would list some on Craigslist or get them to a farmer's market. Everyone is more CSA friendly and health conscious now. And since jelly is a huge high fructose corn syrup item, it only makes sense to make your own. I have to search high and low for someplace to buy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Have you tried making wine? It would be a great science experiment. Or history lesson (can you picture dc out in their bare feet stomping grapes?:001_smile:) And it takes lots of grapes. What flubbed about grape juice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 Have you tried making wine? It would be a great science experiment. Or history lesson (can you picture dc out in their bare feet stomping grapes?:001_smile:) And it takes lots of grapes. What flubbed about grape juice? Umm, don't *do* alcohol here. . so no, wasn't going to do that. I figure pickles work well for the science. . .and yes, I could all too easily visualize stomping grapes with bare feet, and the stains that would endure for great swaths of time (that could be it's own history project. . .). The grape juice flubbed due at least 75% to clarity. I strained it over and over like all the recipes said I should (even through coffee filters) and it was still very foggy. Boys took issue to that. I don't know about taste, because I don't like juice (except when I'm pregnant); but all the boys said it tasted "funky" too. DH was deployed last year. He could have gotten over the clarity thing and told me if it honestly didn't taste right; can't say the same for the boys (they were all wrinkling their noses from the get-go). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 A friend made me a concord grape pie for my birthday one year and it was the best! I say eat pie every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 OK - no wine. How about vinegar? "Funky" could mean it had started to ferment. Come to think of it, that could cause it to be cloudy too. Grape jelly does use a lot of grapes. Another idea is to make grape syrup, which can then be added to water or soda. I have done this with raspberry. Strain and boil ala jelly but don't put any pectin in. Seal in Ball jars. I'm not sure how grape would taste, but I would never have tried grape pie either. Got to give you credit for that one. Maybe chutney? Relish? I'm out of ideas. The family doesn't like grape anything so I quit picking them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa at Home Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 If you really don't care that much for them, I would run a small ad in whatever local publication you have that runs ads for free. I would get the kids involved and let them turn it into a little business. That's what I would do. If I didn't single handedly eat about 20 quarts a year by myself! :D ~Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 "Funky" could mean it had started to ferment. Come to think of it, that could cause it to be cloudy too. It was less than 12 hours old. . . . Another idea is to make grape syrup, which can then be added to water or soda. THIS is an excellent idea! My guys all like fruit syrup on things like waffles and pancakes. (Not that they've ever had grape, but it's worth a shot!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 Okay, I can tell you that 4 pounds of grapes will give you about 5 cups of juice. . .and if you run that through muslin, rather than cheese cloth, you get a better "clarity". (The kids are impressed and happy with that.) 5 cups of juice will be ~ what you need to make jelly. (Jelly calls for LOTS of sugar -- going to try the low-sugar pectin next time.) The boys LOVE the jelly (hopefully, they'll love the low-sugar kind too.) The pulp remaining from those 4 pounds will be enough for 1 grape pie. (And you feel so "frugal" using everything.) And I have enough grapes remaining on the vines to do ~ 5 more batches. We had already given away a good bit. DH was deployed last year during harvest, as I mentioned. This year, he's in heaven. He loves to just eat the grapes! (I had said the rest of us found them too sickenly sweet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in the Kootenays Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Dry them for raisins?? We make grape jelly and grape juice - add honey to the juice to make it a bit sweeter. Give them to all your friends as hostess gifts. Local foodbank?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 We make all the jellies and jams that we use here. We use low sugar pectin for all of them *except* grape. I tried that one year and YUCK! It was horrible. I had to dump it back in the pot with more sugar so that it would be edible. I agree that if you don't want to jelly them yourself, sell them. I was looking for some a few years ago and would have bought a whole bunch. (haha! bunch, get it!) ;) DH ended up climbing up on the roof at work to pick the ones growing wild over the river! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 My grandmother use to flash freeze them and we had them in the afternoon for snack. She use to also make grape juice and add 1 cup to each batch of ice tea. It was so yummy. The pie idea sounds really good!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 My father-in-law has concords as well. He freezes a lot of them and brings them over for my dds to eat all year long. They love them! And they are a great healthy, frozen treat. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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