From the Vine

My all time favorite drink...juice drink I should say...is GRAPE! I credit this to my Grandma Doreen. She and I love our Welches Grape Juice. When I met TyRell and made it out to his house I also fell in love with his mom's   home made grape juice.

This last weekend we were down in Utah, and guess what we did? Made grape juice!!! The whole house smelled of concord grapes. I was in a bit of heaven. I thought I would share the process with ya!

What you'll need:

• Water bath canner
• A lot of Concord Grapes (one quart of juice needs 1 c. grapes)
• A lot of sugar (one quart needs 1/2 c. sugar)
• Quart size glass canning jars and lids
• Time to do it all and a good sitter
• and to make the job a lot easier a canning funnel, jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter(you can buy these essentials in a kit)

What you'll do: I broke this down into a lot of steps. Don't fret, it is really easy!


1. Wash all of your jars and rings. DO NOT re-use lids.
2. Stem and wash all of your grapes! This is the worst part...but hang in there. It is worth it! Have your kids    help ya!

Stemmed grapes smell so good!

3. Place lids in small pot of hot water on stove. Keep them there during your canning process. Lids have to be hot when placed on jars.
4. Get the water steaming in your canner. You will want it to continually steam, so keep it on a heat setting right for that. (Medium/High)
5. If your hot tap water isn't really hot, you will have to keep some hot water simmering on the stove (kettle would make filling jars easy!).
6. While the water is warming up, start filling your jars. Use the funnel for the grapes and sugar.
     1 c. grapes in the bottom
     1/2 c. sugar
     fill jar 1/4'' from the top with hot water (from step 5) (rinse the funnel out once with water)
7. With a clean, wet rag wipe the top of the jar clean. Check for any chips that could break a seal. If jar has a chip, don't use.
8. Grab your pot of lids and magnetic lid grabber and place lids on jars, followed by rings.Place pot back on stove to keep warm.
9. Shake the jars until sugar is dissolved while singing "Shake your booty."(hehe)

Your jar should look like this before sealing.

10. Place jars in canner. (Usually fits 7). Cover with lid. Once the steam resumes set timer for 15-20 minutes. While those are steaming fill more jars.

11. Remove jars with jar lifter and place on old towel on counter to cool. Be careful not to clink jars together as they could break!

This is what finished jars will look like!

My mother-in-law and I made just over 100 quarts for myself. It took 11/2 days (with breaks!)

How to tell if jars have sealed- You should hear a "pop" as the lids are sealing. Also, the top will be really firm. 

What if my lids don't seal? Every batch will have a few that don't seal. If a TON aren't sealing either you are doing something wrong, or it was a faulty box of lids. Don't panic. Tip the jar upside down and wait a while. If that doesn't work you may have to replace the lid and re-seal. (Only do this if a lot of the jars didn't seal. If it's only one or two, just drink them right away!)

Store your jars in a cool, dark place. Enjoy!

**For more information on canning, click here for a good website.