Five ways to deal with a grape glut

Grapes ripen in one fell swoop so one has buckets and buckets of grapes to be processed at the same time. People think that grapes are destined to be either jam, juice, or wine but here are five slightly more unique things to do with those grapes.

1. Pickled Grapes: Pickling creates an entirely new phenomena. They are sweet and delicate.

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2. Grape pie: Grapes are easy to bake into a fruit pie. Simply slice grapes in half, add some sugar and thickener of your choice. Bake as you would a fruit pie.

3. Raisins: Used a skewer to poke holes in the grapes. Place on dehydrator racks. Dehydrate until they are raisins.

4. Roasted Grapes: Unique but with the flavors of a classic picnic dish roasted grapes are easy to make. Simply drizzle some grapes with olive oil and bake at 425 for approximately 20 minutes.

5. Jam: Grape jam was my first foray into canning. It was successful with this easy recipe!

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What are your unique recipes for using up a grape glut?

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From Scratching: Pickled Grapes

After a few grape picks one realizes that there are only so many things to do with a bounty of grapes. I've made a store of grape jam and these lovely green grapes were to perfect to squish and boil so pickling it was. Pickling creates an entirely new phenomena - sweet and delicately flavored.

Pickled Grapes:
500 ml jar full of stemmed grapes
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 t mustard seeds
1 t peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 t salt

Bring vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil. Let cool. Pour over grapes. Refrigerate for a few days before tasting.

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From Scratching: Grape Jam

I've always been a raspberry jam girl - with seeds! Strawberry was consumed, but not accepted when we ran out of raspberry. There was always 5 or 6 jars of half consumed strawberry jam in the fridge growing up. No one really liked it, especially with 'extra fruit' which were just lumps of sad strawberry.

As die-hard a raspberry fan as I am there are folk out there who only accept PB & Grape sandwiches. Which blows my mind - with the insipid store bought purple colored jam? Why such self hatred?

But with this delicious homemade grape jam? I may just be a convert!

Grape Jam
4 cups grapes
3 cups sugar

Boil grapes and sugar for 20 minutes. Push through a sieve which will remove skins and seeds. Hot water process for 15-20 minutes.

Total Jars Canned: 24 1/4 pints

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