Grape Juice Applesauce and Visitors

Today was another busy day off. On Thursday, Bob had picked all the concord grapes from the vine on our arbor. So, today I had to make grape juice or lose the grapes, which I couldn't see wasting. I'm still working on the three bushels of apples that one our members had brought over to us, so I needed to also make more applesauce.

Right after breakfast, I added the breakfast dishes to the dishwasher and since it was now full, I started it. I decided to get the grapes started first and then move on to the apples.

I washed the grapes first and then placed them in the top of the steam juicer.

With the steam juicer filled with fresh grapes I placed the lid on and waited for the juice to appear.

You can see in the tube, that the juice has started.

I place clean canning jars in a 200 degree oven. The jars need to be hot when the hot grape juice is added.

I'm filling the jars with the juice that has been steamed from the grapes.

I made a huge mess. I got grape juice all over the cabinets, stove and floor.

Then Ryan and the boys stopped by to borrow the box trailer so they could move their things out of storage into their new home on Saturday night. They hadn't had breakfast and were hungry. I made them scrambled eggs and toast. They enjoyed their breakfast and were soon ready to get on the road. Before they left, one of our members stopped by for a few minutes. He had drilled the well at Ryan and Lisa's house and was coming by to give us the bill. Bob told him I was in the house making grape juice so he came in and gave me a few pointers on how not to have grape juice all over the place. He and his wife make 70 quarts of grape juice every year.

He showed me how to put the hose in the handle so the excess grape juice wouldn't spill out when the jar was full. That little shared secret saved me a lot of clean up after my project was completed. I also started the applesauce. I did three batches of applesauce. Two of the batches were applesauce/raspberry sauce. I did it without sugar. It surprisingly tastes really good without the sugar. My aunt Kate can't have sugar and I want to take some to her at Thanksgiving time. I also wanted to make some for Tina who will be visiting me right before Thanksgiving. If the rest of us want it a little sweeter, we can always add some sweetener. I think using maple syrup would make it really yummy.

I have my own system for making the applesauce. I quarter the apples and core them. Then I place them in bowl of water. Then the apples are transferred to the pot.

Soon I heard the dogs barking and figured that someone was here. I was right! A couple from the church were on their way home from shopping and decided to stop by and say hello. They came in and visited with us at the kitchen table. They tried the grape juice, which they loved.

I did 18 quarts of grape juice, seven pints and six quarts of applesauce.

I decided I had time to make a fresh apple cake so I quickly put together the ingredients and placed it in the oven. It takes the cake one and a half hours to bake. While it was baking I cleaned the kitchen and got ready to leave for the evangelistic series that was beginning Friday evening in the Roosevelt Church. We needed to leave by 5:00 p.m. The cake came out of the oven at 5:00 p.m. and Bob and I walked to the car to leave. Whew! What a day.