You know how every once in a while (hopefully!) you have one of those days where it seems like everything goes wrong, where you just shouldn’t have gotten out of bed? Well, recently I had one of those days!!
My husband loves grapes. He has brought up the idea of having a grape vine in our backyard for years. I like grapes, so I thought it would be okay until the other day.
My sweet hubby took the kids (and gave me an afternoon to myself!) to go to a friend’s house to pick grapes from their beautiful vine that gracefully cascades over their garage and down the sides. They planned to pick enough so I could make juice.
I have never made grape juice before, but felt up to the challenge. It took four of us an hour and a half to pick those juicy, deliciously red-purple sweets from the vines.
A friend told me to bring them just to a boil and then let them simmer for an hour. I filled a large stock pot and turned on the heat. After a while the juice began to flow and I had a simmering pot of deliciousness filling my home with the sweetest aroma.
While they were simmering, I decided to look up how to make grape juice online. I found great suggestions, but one thing I realized I hadn’t done was blend them before I began cooking. I looked at my huge pot and decided it might help them emit more juice if I just blended them a little.
Bad idea. Isn’t putting a boiling liquid in a sealed container a Cooking 101 no-no?
So, I proceeded to fill my blender (half-full, thankfully!) with those steaming hot, purple grapes. Did I mention they were purple? Dark purple. I secured the lid and continued to hold it on as I usually do. Then I reached for the puree button and…KABOOM!
Those grapes exploded all over the entire room over a fifteen foot radius. My daughter and I had grapes dripping all over us literally from head to toe.
It would have been funny, I think, except those grapes were stinkin’ hot!! We dashed for the bathtub where I wiped down my daughter’s arms and legs. Thankfully, very thankfully, she wasn’t burned. I got a minor burn on my arm, but nothing serious.
Then I went back into the kitchen. Oy vey! I wasn’t planning on redecorating my kitchen.
What can I say? Dumb. Very dumb. But at least no one was hurt.
Did you ever have one of those days? Oh wait, it wasn’t over yet.
As I was cleaning those delectable, luscious purple grapes from my walls, microwave, toaster oven, counters, oven, fridge, floors, cabinets, windows, etc., I noticed a dark reddish-purple chunk in the sink. I noted in my mind how the shape was like a pumpkin seed. Oh well. I scooted it right into the garbage disposal with the rest of the grape debris.
As I turned it on I heard CLINK, CLANK, CLINK, CLINK! Uh oh. I looked in the disposal and didn’t see anything. Oh well, whatever it was wasn’t important. Or so I thought.
It wasn’t until we sat down for dinner that I noticed my pear-shaped garnet was missing from my ring. I could just hear that clinking sound in my mind. I ground it up in the garbage disposal. Oh, yes, I really did. At least we know our disposal works great.
What a day.
After all that, I still had a large pot of grapes, slowly dripping their tasty juices through a sieve. It took until the next day to be done with those grapes.
Did I mention we’re not getting a grape vine?
That sounds like an awful day! I’ve had applesauce ‘glub’ onto my kitchen ceiling, before I learned a different way to prepare it. Also, garnet is my birthstone & if it’s yours too, I know how it’s hard to find just the right color stone that you like. Personally I like a RED stone – not orange-ish or brown-ish… & it’s hard to find sometimes.
I’ve made grape juice here but I’ve used a Victorio Juicer. If you don’t mind juice that has a little pulp in it (similar to orange juice) this is great. I’ve canned it in quart jars & added about 1/2-3/4 cup sugar, 1 qt. of juice, plus enough water to fill the remainder of a gallon jug (so 3 more qts of water). You could probably freeze it too & just unthaw it like you would store bought juice. Below is the juicer on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Victorio-VKP250-Model-Strainer-Sauce/dp/B001I7FP54/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1316907170&sr=8-4
Good luck!! BTW – grapevines take about 5 years to harvest… just keep cutting them back.
Thanks for sharing the info. and the link. I have a friend who loans me her Victorio for making applesauce. I absolutely love it. It’s on my wish list! 😉 I should have borrowed it for the grapes!
My garnet ring was one I bought about 20 years ago. The color was beautiful. The same reddish-purple as the grapes, which is why I thought it was a clump of grapes. Of all days for it to fall out of my ring!! I loved it, but realize it’s not something that lasts forever, so I guess it’s not really all that important anyway. Eternal things are of much more value! 🙂
On a side note, thankfully the price of gold is up. I took the gold ring to the jewelers and sold it to them for $32, so at least I got something. 🙂
Ginny,
I could have called the in-laws for you. They’ve been doing grapes, juice and all for years(of course). I am so sorry to hear about the ring. I remember when you got it..and that is one more reason I don;t wear jewelry 🙂 . If grapevines take 5 yrs to harvest you have 5 yrs to practice 😉
I hope none of your kitchen decorations were stained i.e. a homemade quilt and matching pot holders 🙂 🙂