Since we moved here, we have enjoyed the delicious grape juice that Katie Martin has always been so generous to share. This year, a couple of my friends were going to juice their own and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn a new skill and hang out with my friends. Overall it isn't a super complicated process but when you do it for 10 hours straight, two days in a row, with our little kiddos, and buckets and buckets of grapes (not all grapes shown in this picture)- it can make for a long couple of days.
After washing all the grapes, you put them into the steamer, stems and all- DO NOT forget to keep the boiling water below full. 
Then. . . you wait. While we waited, it was great to get to know these two women better. I respect them both so much and had a great time bonding with them while working hard. We had some real conversations that helped me feel good about the things we are doing in life and the people I surround myself with. Thank you girls for letting me join you- I can't wait to do it again. What should we learn next?
Okay so waiting time is over, the grapes have been steamed and the juice starts flowing! It really amazing to see how this works.
Look at that gorgeous deep purple!
Once the jar is filled to the "second ring of the neck" you switch out the jars and make sure not to spill one drop of this precious juice. Once the juice is all out, we dump the compost and start a new batch.
Placing the lids and rings on top you put the bottles into the water bath to process. We had two juicers going inside and two water baths outside on the camping stove. So fun!!
Don't mess with us moms! We can handle anything!
Jane found creative ways to use the tongs. We started first thing in the morning so, as you can see, Jane didn't have her hair done yet; but you better believe she had her princess dress on. I just love our Janie girl. 
Cannon was an angel and fell asleep so we could plug along. Tara's boy, Jordie (only 3 months older than Cannon) babysat Cannon for me. He did a great job- he gave Cannon a binkie, which he doesn't know how to suck, and yet Cannon was content and fell asleep on the couch. Precious little children.
Voila! The finished product. We ended up with almost 100 jars!!
1 comment:
Wow! I'm soooo impressed that you all did this many bottles with kids and all! But, like you said, it is so much more fun to do it with people you love to be around. Congrats on a project well done!
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