Recipe: Concord Grape Jam

It may seem a little early for a Christmas post, but it will make sense (hopefully) as I go on.  Lately I've been kind of frustrated in buying Christmas presents.  There's less and less variety in the stores available to shop in.  Every mall has the same stores now, and while there are occasionally variations in the product mix (I've never seen the orange sweater I bought The World's Best Small Child at the Gymborees here in Boston, but I found it at the Gymboree in Syracuse) for the most part I figure that if Williams-Sonoma has something that my aunt wants she's probably already picked it up herself.  Even some of the smaller boutique stores - the nice, pretty places that you find in the better sort of tourist towns - carry a lot of the same items.  Heck, even Harvard Square has become a giant outdoor mall, with all the same stores I can find at the South Shore Plaza with the added hassle of public transportation to boot. 

My husband has been "subtly encouraging" more homemade gifts for a while.  He - rightly - thinks that for most people, a homemade gift has more meaning than some crap you buy at the mall.  The problem is that I have all of the artistic ability - visual artistic ability, anyway - of a drunken vole.  I've tried embroidery (with someone else's design) and I lack the attention span.  I don't quilt, and if I did no one would ever want the produce.  I have one talent, and that is cooking.  It's hard to wrap a lasagne, though, and it would start to smell after a couple of days under the tree.  I thought to myself, "I'm always seeing fancy-type jellies and jams and preserves in tourist shops, why don't I give that a try?" 

Last year I ordered myself a Home Canning Kit, and it sat there for a year.  It sat, however, in the room that we had reserved for the Fearless Fetus, and we've started shoveling that room out.  This year I decided that I was actually going to do it.  Granted, jams and jellies don't last a lifetime, and several of my family members don't use them anyway.  But for those that do, I'm hoping that they'd rather have something from my kitchen than yet another ugly sweater that they could have bought themselves had they wanted it. 

So this is my first preserve.  It will not go into the gift baskets.  I was only able to get two small jars out of this batch, and these are special Concord grapes.  These are the grapes from my parents' backyard, the ones that grew there when my grandmother lived there.  I can't get more, although I suppose I could buy some grapes somewhere else and make a bunch of jam.  But this one is special.  I'm keeping one jar for myself and giving one to my sister.  Rachel, if you have no use for a jar of Concord grape jam let me know now. 

Concord Grape Jam (makes 32 oz or 2 16 oz jars; approx. cost per serving not available)

2 quarts Concord grapes, stemmed

6 cups sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Equipment:

• 2 clean 16-oz canning jars (don't recycle old commercial jars, like from store-bought jelly, for this purpose.  They are intended as single-use items and may not be able to be completely sterilized or withstand the canning process again.)
• 2 lids and rings for 16-oz canning jars
• Large saucepan
• Fine strainer
• Bowl
• Large stockpot
• Candy or instant-read thermometer
• Saucepan
• Water-bath canner
• Canning tongs

1. Put the jars in the large stockpot with enough water to cover.  Bring the water to 180 degrees and keep at that temperature. 
2. Put the lids and rings in the saucepan with water to cover generously.  Bring the water to 180 degrees and keep at that temperature.
3. Put the grapes and lemon juice in the large saucepan.  Over medium heat, cook the grapes until they yield up their juices. 
4. When the grapes have given up as much juice as they're going to, strain them into the bowl through the strainer.  Use some sort of utensil - the back of a spoon will work just fine - to press out as much liquid as you can from the solids.  Discard the solids. 
5. Combine the grape juice and the sugar in the saucepan over medium-low heat. 
6. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved and melted.  Boil until the gelling point is reached, about 220 degrees.
7. Meanwhile, half-fill the water bath canner with water and bring to at least 180 degrees. 
8. When the water bath canner is ready, fill the jars with the jam and seal with the lids.  Tighten the rings down to fingertip-tightness 
9. Lower the jars into the canner so that the water covers them.  Add boiling water if necessary.
10. Bring the canner to a rolling boil.  Cover and process 30 minutes. 
11. Remove from the canner and let cool 24 hours in a cool place.  Tighten the lids as needed and set aside until ready to use. 

Comments

[nora@ffr]

oh wow!1 i shud try this jam!! home made james are the best!!
cheers!

[The Duo Dishes]

Canning spreads, fruits and soup is such a fun holiday gift idea. Much better than a present under the tree.