Jellymaking......

Judy made this black bean certerpiece for her birthday party on my backporch.

What a treat this winter to open this up and spread on french toast or a biscuit.

The last few weeks I've been checking out recipes for jelly. I've always just used the old standard Sure jell which is really good but only makes about 3 pints at a time. My thoughts were always that you couldn't mess with a jelly/jam recipe -- it was one that had to be exact. Apparently, not so.

After studying the way Annaliese http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/ made her jelly and jams, I contacted her and she sent me very helpful advice. She just says put in this much fruit, this much sugar & this much pectin and see how you like it. She also makes large batches and keeps them in the freezer. Apparently, it stays so much fresher. I've always left mine out because it's sealed and it looks good. Her sealing method is to sanitize the bottles in the oven while you're mixing it up & then just pour the hot liquid into the hot jars, put the lid on and listen for that lovely little "pop".

I ended up with 6 jars and they look beautiful and the consistency looks perfect. Thanks Annaliese for your help. Can't wait for the peaches to come in.

Don't forget Leola's tag sale on Saturday morning if you're anywhere near Ozark. There will be lots of treasures. We're opening at 8:oo on the parking lot before it gets hot.