I canned a few jars of homemade grape juice. Isn't the color gorgeous? They look like quart sized lava lamps.
The grapes came from my parents' vines. Ignore the pug foot. The pugs didn't help me pick at all, so I don't know why they are trying to get into the picture.
The grapes may not have come from our own garden but I couldn't help using these stickers made with this embosser we ordered almost a year ago. How cute are they?
I'm going to post the grape juice recipe here again. It's just so darn easy and tasty.
This weekend was the Grape Festival in Naples. I was ready for all things grape.
First we went to Jerome's U-Pick Grape Farm to pick some grapes.
I couldn't believe how many different varieties there were. There were over a dozen different kinds of grapes.
The entire place smelled like grapes!
The fruit basket came with us.
There may have been some grapes eaten right off the vine.
I love how the wagons and wheelbarrows were painted purple. Everything in Naples is purple... fire hydrants, mailboxes and garbage bins. (Note to self: Wear purple next year.
After picking grapes we stopped at Monica's Pies to get grape pies and a chicken pot pie to take home.
Next up was a stop at Joseph's Wayside Market to grab a gallon of grape juice.
Lynnie Lou's Ice Cream had fall sundaes! Pumpkin, warm apple and grape. Aaron got the warm apple and I had the grape. The crumble topping really took them to the next level.
After all that grape-ness, we stopped at the actual Grape Festival for just one thing. Roasted corn!
I really like trying unusual fruits. The label of this Lemondrop Melon caught my attention. It practically looks like candy. It was a bit sour for me, but Aaron liked it. He loves sour.
Next I spied these grapes at Wegmans. They were called Witches Finger Grapes. Not a fan of the name but the grapes were good. They tasted like normal grapes but they came off the vine very easily which I liked.
I started seeing people post about getting Cotton Candy grapes. Sure enough I walked in to Wegmans and there they were right up front. I could smell cotton candy as soon as I picked up a bag. Wow they really do taste like cotton candy!
And these cotton candy grapes are not some GMO experiment. They come from just regular plant breeding. There is an article on NPR about these designer grapes.
It was a good year for grapes at my parents'. My dad told me to pick as many as I want as long as he got a few jars of grape juice.
Maybe I went overboard. I picked four basins like this. It wasn't even a quarter of what was on the vines.
We canned over 20 jars of grape juice from my parent's grapes using the Amish recipe that I've blogged about before. It works like magic.
Today I went to the Naples Grape Fest with Aprille and Joel. Oh the smell of grapes!
All things grape! Grape juice, grape cotton candy and grape candy apples. Grape pies are the big hit though. I never heard of a grape pie until I moved to Rochester - near the Finger Lakes. They are so good - I don't know why they aren't more widespread.
I brought home a grape pie...
And a chicken pot pie to enjoy at home.
I am spending a week at my parents, visiting and staining my grandma's deck. My mom and dad have some grape vines and I was excited to see all the plump ripe grapes on them. Mom said there aren't as many as last year and they aren't as big but they look good to me.
I picked a bunch of them and took them to my grandma's to make juice.
I coudn't decide what juice recipe to use so we made two batches using different methods. This old recipe fascinates me. I'm not sure how a silver spoon keeps glass from cracking but still... fascinating.
We made one batch with whole grapes and sugar floating in hot water method.
And we made another batch using the cook-the-grapes-and-squish-the-juice-out method.
The juice turned out to be a wonderful color and tasty too. Fresh grape homemade grape juice is so different than what you buy in the store!
I got back from Germany just in time to go to the Grape Festival in Naples.
Grape pies, grape juice, grape bread and grapes right off the vine.
These grapes are so good for eating straight up.
The pies are pretty darn good too.
I just want to point out... if these are made daily... they probably aren't antique.
Yesterday Aaron and I went to the Naples Grape Festival. The whole town smells like grapes. We got grape juice, grape pie and a big basket of grapes.
We also won a bottle of sparkling grape juice. I was pretty excited.
