Joyful Jammin’

The process of making grape jam is so sensuous -- even if you don’t crush the grapes with your feet. The viscous velvet combination of juice and pulp is as royal a purple as you ever want to see. Add pectin and -- bubble, bubble, no toil, no trouble – dump in the sugar and stir until the sugar melts. This magic turns the mixture into clear liquid rubies. Boil for only one minute more, and voila! We’re now the proud parents of twenty-four jars of gorgeous grape jam -- And a kitchen that has been hit with a great big grape grenade.

I’m leaving town, so I’m getting desperate to finish up with this week’s harvest. What does one do with two and a half gallons of questionable corn, four dozen banana peppers, and a half dozen green bell peppers? I chickened out on canning the best of the corn because I was a little afraid of its quality after Jack said that it would be too tough to eat. And, I ran out of pint jars. I tested the texture in succotash for lunch. That went well, but I didn’t have any more limas, or any more pint jars. It was time to get creative with corn.

Don’t groan. I made only a small portion into maque choux, using one of our many peppers and several tomatoes. And I made a savory corn and pepper “pudding” (sort of like squash casserole, but with corn). Some pudding we’ll have for supper; some will go to Mamie and Jack; and some will go to Rachel’s family. I froze several quarts of corn, planning on months of corn puddings of various types. I’m especially interested in a corn and chorizo variation.

While I jammed in the kitchen, Richard ran over to Mamie’s to clear the weeds around our carrots and help her dig up her gladiola bulbs. He came home with tomatoes, field peas and okra. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as we sat down to shell yet another passel of peas.