Thursday, August 25, 2022

Thursday Post

 Hi everyone. Happy Thursday to you.

It is time once again for Rain's Art and Dinner Date.  

I'm not sure this counts as dinner, but last week I picked 4 pounds of grapes off my grape plant. I was excited to get this many because of the drought we have. I'm right on the border of moderate drought to  abnormally dry, and I'm not exactly sure which one  applies to my yard. The rain has been hit or miss this summer, and I think more miss than hit.

Last year when my grapes were ripening, I decided to give them a couple more days to let some of the green ones turn, but when I went back they had all dried up. Like overnight. It was weird, and also frustrating because it meant I couldn't make any grape jelly. That's why this year when the majority of the grapes had turned, I picked them. I ate a few, and they had a nice tart flavor.


Time to make some grape jelly.


To make grape jelly, you first have to make grape juice by boiling the grapes with a cup and a half of water. While they cook you mash them several times. Once you have pulpy liquid,  you then strain that liquid to get out the seeds and what's left of the skins. After that you need to refrigerate the juice for 24-48 hours, and then strain again.

I added my sugar and pectin and boiled the final product, being sure to stir it the whole time.

Grapes don't contain as much pectin as some fruit (like apples). Pectin is actually part of the cell wall structure in plants, and you use it in jelly/jam making to thicken the juice and jellify it.


Then I poured my hot jelly into sterilized canning jars and processed the ones in a boiling water bath that I will be keeping for later. I made 3 1/2 pints of jelly, but I didn't process the 1/2 pint as I will be using it right away.


This week Rain's art theme is gestures and movements. Let me share a few more photos from my trip last week to the Berkshires. Today I have  more photos from TurnPark Art Space, which was a great sculpture garden in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. (You can read about this sculpture garden in my post yesterday if you're interested.)

These sculptures have lots of gestures and movement.



In these first 2 photos,  love how the head is unattached but then looks attached, depending on your view in these first 2 photos.
And in these next 2, let me show you this cute little sculpture. 



This next photo looks like it is early autumn, but that's because the drought I mentioned affecting most of New England this summer.



And here's my favorite photo of this sculpture.


I also liked how I captured the sculptures name but this leaf had fallen so artistically on the rest of the plaque. 


And a few more views of gestures and movements.  





That's all for me today.
Thanks for visiting, and have a great rest of your week.





23 comments:

Christine said...

Interesting sculptures, love the grape jelly

Gillena Cox said...

OMG the grape jelly making is simply fantastic.
Luvving those stone sculptures.
Thank for dropping by my blog today

Much💖love

Aimeslee Winans said...

Look at you, making preserves! My grandy had a grape arbor in his side yard when I was growing up. I believe when he started it, it was between 2 clothesline poles that were cemented in like every house used to have. He built around that over the years. I would visit in the summers and play among the vines. I really like those human form sculptures at the post's end. Especially the 2 black dancers. XOX

R's Rue said...

Love grape jelly. Yum.

CJ Kennedy said...

Beautiful statues and the grape jelly looks delicious. My dad made jelly and jams one year. Someone must have given him the grapes as we didn't have an arbor. He also made something called conserve which used the pulp and skins. I really like that, too. Our trees are stressed too from the drought and trees that usually turn later in Sept. are starting to turn now. Have a great day!

Angie's Recipes said...

Those sculptures are unique and really beautiful! I want to taste some of your homemade grape jelly!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Lucky you to have grapes growing in your yard. How nuice you got enugh graoes to make jelly, too. Thanks for explaining the science behind it.

What perfect sculpture you shared from your recent trip. They are all excellent examples of gestures and movement. I can see why you loved this park. Hope your week is going well, dear.

+

Divers and Sundry said...

We had grape vines in our yard when I was growing up, and I remember Mother making grape jelly. Nice :)

I don't remember sculptures in parks being as much of a thing when I was young, but I'm happy to see more of it now. The ones you picture are wonderful!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Be sure to save a jar of that grape jelly for the orioles next spring! Hugs - David

Stevenson Q said...

I really appreciate human sculptures that are somewhat abstracted and the lines and curves are so satisfying to see. I havent tried Grape Jelly yet but by the looks of that Erika, I dont think itwould make it to my bread because I would eat that from the Jar! YUMM!!!

craftytrog said...

Wonderful sculptures and the jam looks delicious Erika!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

It's great that you were able to harvest the grapes before they dried up, Erika, and then to make your own grape jelly! Thanks for the photos from TurnPark Art Space, I will check out your previous post and this looks like it could be a future road trip for us, possibly this fall!

Valerie-Jael said...

Love the beautiful statues, very expressive. Your grape harvest is wonderful, grape jelly is very special, yummy! You have been really busy! I'm not getting much done just now, just trying to keep my head over water! Hugs, Valerie

Carola Bartz said...

I like the sculptures as lot, they are amazing. This was a lovely place to visit and walk around. Your grape jelly looks good - I have never made any since I don't eat it, but feed it to the orioles. They love it. I bet they would love yours, it's probably much better than my store bought one.

Jeanie said...

Well done on your grapes and the jelly. That's something I've never made. Freezer jam, yes, but not jelly.

The statues are perfect entrants for Rain's day!

Mae Travels said...

The abstractions of the figures in your sculpture photos are very interesting. I love the way the sculptor played with 3 dimensions.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

kathyinozarks said...

Good evening Erika, great tutorial of your grape jelly I have never had the patience to make jelly, but I did enjoy making jams and preserves in the past.
we have been fortunate here and have gotten rain about every 2 weeks or so, I did need to water my flowers this week as we are getting really hot again with no rain.
I love these sculptures-thanks for sharing more of these. Happy Friday and weekend coming up hugs Kathy

DVArtist said...

Ohhh what an excellent post. Thank you for sharing your jelling making. I love seeing how people can. Glad you got so many grapes. The statue are is all amazing. Have a nice evening.

Iris Flavia said...

Hello Six-Thirty :-)
I never heard of a jelly from that fruit, wonder how it tastes like!
I still don´t like sweets (much), but this would be a great pressie for Ingo and thanks to the loss of the "old" job I would really enjoy trying this!
But all I can get is cheap supermarket grapes where you do not know how much... hahaha... chemistry (as in perticide) is in there - though... you destroy the structure, right?

It comes out like jam then? To put on a breadroll?

Love the little sculpture! And the leaf-art!
The woman... can make one a bit sad, though - so the dancers cheer one up and I interpret the last one as just resting.
Hugs!

Tom said...

...fabulous sculptures. TurnPark Art Space should be on my long list of places to see. I make sugar free concord jam, it is a morning treat on my toast. Enjoy your day.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi again Erika, regarding your comment on my recent anniversary post that included visiting the Portsmouth Lighthouse. You said it is on your list of places to visit. You can view it from the water on a boat, but would not be able to see it up close on land. That’s because it is now on federal property and a Coast Guard base with locked gates 😕. My husband was able to get permissions from the Friends Lighthouse group who then contacted the Coast Guard. And, no, we did not see the Chronicle episode about the Nashua Airport cafe.

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

I can remember my mother canning, but I have never been so ambitious ... but having homemade grape jelly, I can't even imagine how good it is. As for the sculpture garden, I loved it. My best friend's (at a tender young age)father was a professor in the art department at the University and his mode was sculpture. We had several of his pieces in our home and they were very modern much like those in the garden. I guess I grew up loving the process and the results ... Thank you for the tour :)

Andrea @ From the Sol

NatureFootstep said...

Your grapes looks tasy enough. Think your yelly does too.

I would have loved visiting the sculpture garden, so many cool pieces of art :)