All's Fair

Over the summer back in Oklahoma I had the opportunity to sample some white zinfandel jelly. I really enjoyed it. So once I got back from my trip I went out on the Internet and searched for a recipe. Well one popped up immediately. Exactly four ingredients. Wine, pectin, sugar, and a bit of butter to prevent foaming.

So I went into the kitchen and tracked down a bottle of white zinfandel (I had some Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s). The recipe took 3 cups. Well that took almost the whole bottle. It left enough wine for one sip for the cook. Now in the canning supplies I dug around and found a box of pectin [the recipe wanted one (1 ¾ ounce) box of Sure-Jell, check]. Butter was easy (a half teaspoon) and sugar (4 cups) was too.

I also had some canning jars so I got those ready (the recipe makes 5 half pint jars). I put the wine and pectin in a large saucepan and put in the butter. Set it on the heat and got it up to boiling. Once it was boiling all the sugar was added all at once and stirred in. I let it boil for one minute stirring constantly. Then I took it off the heat and put it in the canning jars.

I cleaned the rims and put the jars into a boiling water bath and processed it in the boiling water for 10 minutes (you have to add extra time due to our higher elevation). I took the jars out of the water and let them cool.

Now there was just a bit leftover that didn’t fit in the five jars I had ready. So now that it was cool I tasted it. And it was amazing. At the very least as good as what I’d tasted back in Oklahoma, possibly better. I took a jar with me to a party a few days later and everyone seemed to enjoy the jelly. (Served with cream cheese and crackers).

Now if you do any canning of your own, and even if you just think you might want to try canning, this would be an easy start. And it was so good I set aside two jars, that are going to go down to Bakersfield for the Kern County Fair. Will it win? I have no idea. I’m not always good at figuring out what the judges like. But I do think it stands a chance.

And hopefully in a few weeks (after the Fair) you can have some award-winning White Zinfandel Jelly. It’s easy to make. Though somehow it seems I’ve waited to long to write about this. It seems the deadline for entering in the preserves category has passed.

Now the fact that I didn’t give away the recipe until it was too late doesn’t indicate I’m competitive does it?

Maybe. But “all’s fair”. Right?

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