When I turned 45 I made up a very short bucketlist. Two of the goals on the list required the assistance of my Mom, or as many know her as "Oma". The first goal was to learn how to make jelly and the second was to learn how to can.
My mom has been making jelly since I was a child and it's become a tradition to expect a fine assortment of them in our Easter baskets and Christmas stockings. Her jellies have won the hearts of many and the jelly of choice in many cupboards.
While she makes an assortment of various kinds of fruity jellies, the kind she makes the least of is "Quince" only because they are so difficult to find. They are virtually impossible to find in your local supermarket, but when you have a granddaughter that works in the food industry, Oma had enough quince to last her for months. Oma's request was for (4) quince but we surprised her with a case of 32! If you've never heard of a quince, it's similar to an apple in size. It is believed that the quince came long before the apple, and that many ancient references to apples were, in fact, references to quince, including the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
Quince are used primarily to make jellies and marmalade as they have an abundance of natural pectin in them. Quinces are not eaten raw as you would with an apple simply because they have a better taste and texture when cooked.
Grab your apron and let's make some Quince jelly with Oma! First things first though, Oma is a fond lover of old time music so let's not forget to put on a little Count Basie to get the toes tappin'.
Oma had most of the tedious work done as she had already prepared the quince ahead of time by cooking it down and hanging it in a cheesecloth bag to drain out the juice and pectin. Thus, it was easy for me to come in and learn the process of making jelly with the prep work complete. Thanks Mom!
If you've not realized it yet, jelly has a lot of sugar in it. Probably one of the reasons kids love it so much!
Stir - Stir & Stir some more over a high heat starts the jelly process!
Start the paraffin wax on a low heat to melt.
As Oma says, a small gravy ladle is the best for pouring the wax in the jars.
Oma believes in recycling and will use any shape or size jar for her jellies. Sterilized jars are a must. Don't forget to heat the jars in a warm oven while making the jelly.
Gooey goodness shows that the jelly is done cooking!
Before you put the jelly in the jars, Oma said, "We need to take the scum off." The scum I asked? "Yes, it's the frothy stuff on the top of the jelly which if left, would make the jelly look cloudy." I'm wondering if there's a more official name, but Oma seemed content in calling it 'scum'..
Carefully we ladled the jelly into the warm jars using a funnel.
Then added the melted paraffin wax. One trick about adding the wax is, you'll want to make sure that you put the jelly up to where the jar starts the rim. If you don't then the wax is harder to pop out of the jar when you want to start eating the jelly.
Oma always reserves a teaspoon of jelly aside to cool before putting the labels on her jars. Why? Because sometimes you can end up with "sauce" instead of "jelly". As you can see, this batch was indeed "Jelly".
After the quince was done, Oma found some plum juice that she processed earlier from a plum tree she had in her garden. With some time to spare, we made Plum jelly too!
In total, we made 24 jars of jelly!
I had to laugh because Oma seemed a bit jittery about showing me how to make jelly as like many of us, when we do things that's common for us it's one thing if you make a mistake along the way, but when teaching someone else how to do it, you can feel awkward or hesitant that a mistake will be made.
Not a chance with Oma though.. She was a wonderful teacher as always. My only hope is that one day I'll be able to carry on this tradition with my daughters even if they wait till their 40's to want to learn something new.
While sitting down afterwards Oma and I looked at our jars filled with jelly and started adding up the cost. However, after a bit we realized that although making jelly may not be the most economical way to enjoy it, the profit is gained by the satisfaction, the memories, the passing on of a craft and indeed the down home sweet goodness.
Want Oma's Quince recipe? Let me know, and I'll ask Oma if she'd like to pass it along..
