A day in the life of a grape...

One of the wonderful things about working for state government is that I get just about EVERY holiday off! So for Columbus day, while Bobby slaved away at school, I headed up to Brigham City to make Grape Jelly and Grape Juice. Little did I know that was I was going to be doing the most of was making a giant purple mess!

The first bonus, is that I got to spend a few hours outside in the glorious sunshine. I love'd my life. Bobby can attest to my longing for the great outdoors. Sometimes I will just stare out our bedroom window with this sort of longing look on my face. True Story. That is when Bobby knows it is time for a field trip. So though it took hours, I looked for every little bunch of grapes I could find on the property lining my grandma/sister/ mom's house (this was my grandparent's home, the one my mom grew up in and that I would visit every summer, then my sister and her family bought if after my grandparent's passed away, and my mom rented it from my sister when their family moved to seattle... got all that?? I know, I know, it was a tangent)



Once the buckets full of grapes actually made it into the house, there was a lot of sitting around waiting for the grapes to do their thing, and cook all the juices out, and then 1000 things to do within a 2 minute period of time to get them properly in the jars, or made into jelly and jars sealed. This means also, that there was a colossal mess to made within those 2 minutes of waiting. I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of it... My favorite is when I grabbed onto the hose from the steamer juicer, without the instant realization that it was scorching hot. When the realization hit me, I let go of the hose and it when flailing about (like only hoses filled with liquid and snakes could imitate) Do not forget that the liquid in this hose was in fact grape juice, and yes, it sprayed ALL over the kitchen. Well, at least I got to spend some quality time with the bleach, and JoElle can rest assured that the floor under the stove has been sufficiently sanitized. At days end, the mess magically turned into some pretty delicious grape treats.