The jelly was a two-day process because the juice needs to sit for 24 hours so any crystals will fall out. Cooking it only takes a couple minutes, so it was no big deal to finish it tonight while the boys ate dinner. Then, I sent them out on errands. I don't like people in my kitchen when I'm canning.
Last night, I made the pear chutney-oh goodness, what a sticky mess I had to clean up. It took two hours of sitting and stirring for it to thicken, but in the end twenty pounds of pears gave me a whopping four and a half pints of chutney. Yeah, that's what I think too. We haven't tried it yet, but it darn well had better be good for all that effort. I stood next to the stove a book in one hand, and a spoon in the other, so at least the evening wasn't a complete loss. I'll post the recipe once I know if it tastes like ass or not. Awwww geez, I really just typed that, didn't I? Sometimes, I think I ought to make better use of the backspace key, but then I think better of it and do a little "I gotta be me" thing and end up posting it anyway. Yeah, I don't like pear chutney that tastes like ass. I gotta be me.
I have enough small pears left to preserve in brandy, and about three grocery bags left of apples. I'm inclined to make a large batch of applesauce and freeze it to use later on for baking fruitcakes. I could can it, but since the stuff freezes so well, and I have the space, I hardly see the point. I suppose I'd better leave enough for a strudel or I'll never hear the end of it. I just don't get the strudel thing. I like it, but I can't grasp why people are so fanatical about it.
The Concord ("kon-kerd" if you're actually from Concord, Mass.) grape jelly recipe is HERE.
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