My Grapes of Wrath

I actually have a passion that I haven't talked about much, but that is definitely there.

 It's cooking!

But not just any type of cooking...I like to make things from scratch.

I am obsessed with food processing and what goes into turning one thing into something completely different.   I grind all my wheat, and make all the bread we consume. 

I make Greek Yogurt and all kinds of other wacky things that most people just buy at the store.

It all started in college when I saw a block of tofu.

I knew it came from soy, but how?

How did you turn a green soy bean into a perfectly white and square jelly block that tastes like nothing.

I ended up going to Culinary School and I loved learning the basics, but I knew that I was not cut out for the gastronomy industry. I like cooking at home for those who I love.

Luckily I married a guy who loves to garden and has transformed our back yard into a fruiting paradise.

For my hubby it's a hobby,

he starts his seed research and collecting in January,

gets it all ordered by February and starts the seedlings soon after.

For this I am grateful,

because it has allowed me to wander into my back yard and see what is ripe

and transform it into something else.

This last month we have been busy harvesting

 tomatoes, jalapenos, zucchini, eggplant,

blackberries and grapes!

Lots and lots of them!

  One bucket of white and three 5 gal. buckets of red!

I always fantasized about what I would do with these many grapes, and this last week I had my chance of fining out! It took us one hour to clean two buckets.  Then a whole day of processing them into Grape Jelly!

We blended,

Then added pectin and lots and lots of sugar!  Let me tell you right now, no one has enough sugar in their home to make this much jelly!

Then we cooked it, maybe a little too much, we were not sure for how long to cook it. 

But then we figured that we would chance it and call it done.  So we ladled them into the containers, we ran out of containers, so we had to run out and get more before pressure cooking it. 

Needless to say, it was midnight when we got done, and the last thing I want right now is

Grape Jelly!