All over town established grape vines bulge with unappreciated grapes. At our place, we didn't inherit much in the way of landscaping, but a lovely white grapevine, probably planted in the 1940's or 50's, survives even the deep drought of this place--its roots surely tap the water table twenty feet down. A purple grapevine grows on our west fence, choked by junk elm trees and Virginia Creeper; but between the two of them we have no shortage of grapes. Sometimes I like to imagine that Italian immigrants planted them to put wine on their table. In any case, undoubtedly they were used well. Here at Whiteplum they mostly go to juice.
Here's my recipe:When stemming the grapes, remember acid-etched fingers last a long time and gloves really make a difference.Cook grapes until the skins pop. I add about 2 cups of water to every lettuce spinner full (maybe 14 cups) of washed and stemmed grapes. I strain the resulting product through a few layers of cheesecloth in a strainer, and refrigerate the resulting juice overnight, or longer. Strain the juice from this product into a pan, heat it to boiling, and process it in a water bath. In the past squeezing out the most possible from the product makes the juice too cloudy. I never add sugar because it's sweet enough without it. The recipe (Better Homes and Gardens cookbook) is for a grape juice "concentrate" which calls for sugar and to which one adds water to serve. Skip it. Just drink juice. If desired, water down when serving.
All over town established grape vines bulge with unappreciated grapes. At our place, we didn't inherit much in the way of landscaping, but a lovely white grapevine, probably planted in the 1940's or 50's, survives even the deep drought of this place--its roots surely tap the water table twenty feet down. A purple grapevine grows on our west fence, choked by junk elm trees and Virginia Creeper; but between the two of them we have no shortage of grapes. Sometimes I like to imagine that Italian immigrants planted them to put wine on their table. In any case, undoubtedly they were used well. Here at Whiteplum they mostly go to juice.
Here's my recipe:When stemming the grapes, remember acid-etched fingers last a long time and gloves really make a difference.Cook grapes until the skins pop. I add about 2 cups of water to every lettuce spinner full (maybe 14 cups) of washed and stemmed grapes. I strain the resulting product through a few layers of cheesecloth in a strainer, and refrigerate the resulting juice overnight, or longer. Strain the juice from this product into a pan, heat it to boiling, and process it in a water bath. In the past squeezing out the most possible from the product makes the juice too cloudy. I never add sugar because it's sweet enough without it. The recipe (Better Homes and Gardens cookbook) is for a grape juice "concentrate" which calls for sugar and to which one adds water to serve. Skip it. Just drink juice. If desired, water down when serving.
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