Grapes, Grapes and more Grapes

Grapes, Grapes and more Grapes! My grape vines are producing very well this year, and now I am busy processing my grapes in different ways. Every time my husband goes outside he is snacking on a handful of grapes. We have an old dog coop outside by our old garage and we do not have any dogs, so we decided to use the chain linked fence for our grapes vines to grow on. Our grape vines were very small when we planted them, but three years later we have a nice batch of grapes that we pick each year. Now what to do with all the grapes we get since we can’t eat all of them fast enough. So today I will show you some of the things I use my grapes for.

Grape Juice

1.       Cut your grapes off by the stems with scissors to avoid losing so many of them when picking.

2.       Pull the grapes off the stems and place them into a colander and rinse them off very well.

3.       Place the clean grapes into a large kettle and start cooking them.

4.       As the grapes start cooking smash them with a potato masher.

5.      

When they become soft and the skins break you are ready to make your juice.

6.       Using a food processor or an old fashion food mill start smashing your grapes.

7.      

If you like to separate the pulp from the juice. The pulp is good for other things as I will show you later.

8.     

  Now you have the grape juice to drink right away, or to can or freeze for later.

9.       Add as much sugar to taste. Depending on how thick or thin you like your juice add water. I usually water mine down ¾ water to ¼ juice.

Grape Jam or Jelly

1.       Take your grapes from the vine and pull them off. Place them into a colander and rinse well.

2.       Place into a large kettle and start cooking them, with a potato smasher start smashing your grapes as they cook.

3.      

Again, using a food processor or an old fashion food mill smash your grape.

4.       Using a box of Sure-Jell, follow the directions to make grape jelly or jam.

Grape Fruit Roll-Ups

1.      

Taking your grapes from the vines, pull them off and wash them in a colander under water.

2.       Place your grapes in a large kettle and start cooking them. With a potato, smasher smash your grapes as they cook.

3.      

Place in a food processor or old-time food mill and start smashing your grapes.

4.      

Separate the grape pulp from your juice. The pulp works the best for fruit roll-ups.

5.       Take your fruit roll-up trays and spray with non-stick spray.

6.       Add sugar to taste into your grape pulp.

7.     

  Pour the grape pulp onto your fruit roll-up trays.

8.       Check your dehydrator for temperature directions and time. My grape fruit roll-ups took almost a day to dehydrate.

9.       Cut little pieces and roll them in wax paper. Yummy, Yummy

These are the three things I do with my grapes I get each year. The jams and jellies last me a full year. The juice depending on if you freeze or can it can last up to a year also. The fruit roll-ups never make it much past a couple of weeks, because everybody loves them.

Earlier I mentioned using a food processor or an old time food mill. Food processors can get very pricey and take a long time to set up and then wash up later. I use my grandmother’s old food mill with great success, besides a little arm work never hurt anyone. The food mill is easier to clean up afterward also.

I hope you enjoyed my homegrown grape ideas from Suzie homemaker.

Making Raisins from Home grown Grapes

                Dehydrating home grown grapes! Today I will show you my grape vines I have at home.

We have an old dog coop which is not being used for any dogs. Three years ago we ordered 8 grape vines from a seed catalog. The fencing was a great way for the vines to crawl up and grow. After three years we have a nice batch of grapes to work with. I use the grapes for making homemade juice, jams, raisins, and just to eat fresh. A couple of days ago my daughter and I took a ladder and picked grapes for an hour.

Today I am going to show you how to make raisins out of your grapes.

1.       Take your ladder and a pair of scissors and cut off your grape bunches.

2.       Take off your grapes from the stems and place in a colander. Rinse off your grapes.

3.       Make sure you have the seedless grapes to dehydrate.

4.       Place your grapes on your dehydrating trays and poke a little hole in them so they dehydrate 

correctly.

5.       Check your dehydrator for correct temperature and start dehydrating your grapes.

6.       My grapes took over a day to dehydrate.

7.       Place the raisins in a sealed container or zip lock bag and date them.

Another option is buying store bought grapes. Watch for the grapes to be on sale then buy a good amount to dehydrate. Take your grapes and cut them in half and place on your dehydrating trays. I find the home grown grapes to be much sweeter than the store bought grapes. Making your own homemade raisins is so much healthier and cheaper. This would be a good project to do with your children or grand- children. As you can tell I like to have home grown food because it is so much healthier for you. I love to grow, pick and process what I grow. Have fun making homemade raisins from Suzie Homemaker.

How to dehydrate and make apple and banana chips plus homemade raisins

Welcome back to Suzie Homemakers helpful tips and ideas. Hope you liked your homemade fruit roll-ups. Today I would like to continue on with more dehydrating ideas. Like I said my dehydrator gets used at least once a week. Another thing I like to make with my dehydrator is apple and banana and pear chips plus homemade raisins. My children don’t like to eat fresh bananas but when I make banana chips it’s like candy to them. I like to watch when the grocery stores have bananas getting too ripe and I buy several pounds at a time. Most grocery stores will sell these bananas at a discounted price. Watch for pears and apples to be on sale too so you can dehydrate these also. I like to buy the purple grapes to dehydrate for homemade raisins. There are so many different kinds of fruits you can dehydrate. If you ever priced dry fruit out in the store it is very expensive. Dehydrating your own saves a lot of money.I like to make my own trail mix this way and it’s much cheaper than buying it in the store. Dehydrating fresh fruit cut into pieces is another great way to save money. You can sprinkles then on your favorite cereal in the morning. Just remember that dehydrating fruit will take you most of the day. The raisins and bananas took over 10 hours to dehydrate. The apples took a little less time.
    In my short video, I will show you step by step how to make banana and apple chips, plus homemade raisins with the dehydrator. It’s easy and fun to do plus it saves you money. The whole family will love them.
Have more fun dehydrating from Suzie Homemaker