Buttercup Bliss: Homemade Muscadine Jelly

Last year I made homemade jelly for the first time. I was so proud of myself because I had never "put-up" anything before. Lucky for me, I have a great friend, Diane, who knows how to do all of these things!! She wrote down exactly what I needed to do and I did it :-) Seth was hooked!! Now he only wants MY jelly on his PB& J sandwiches.

We still had one or two jars left from last year, but it is time to make jelly again. I wanted to pick muscadines from a local farm; however, it was closed. Not a problem though because our local Walmart sells muscadines (in the grape family) by the quart. I picked up two quarts, a bag of sugar, one box of Sure-Gel and new lids for my jars and I was ready to begin. I have to tell you that making homemade jelly just makes me feel like such a homemaker!! I love it!

Here is the perfect recipe for Muscadine Jelly (in Diane's words):

Wash two quarts of fresh muscadines.

Cover (just barely) with water and bring to a boil. Cook until they are "squishable". (Are you impressed with the technical term?)

Using a potato masher, "squish" the muscadines.

Drain the "smushed" muscadines in a colander - Reserve the liquid in a mixing bowl.

Next, strain the reserved liquid through cheesecloth

or very small mesh strainer.

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil to pre-heat the jars prior to filling with jelly.

Then.... (I forgot to take a picture of this step)

Pour 5 cups of strained muscadine juice in a large pot with one box of Suregel and one tablespoon of butter. (If you don't have five cups, you can add water to make five cups.) Bring to a rolling boil.

After the juice, Suregel and margarine have been brought to a roiling boil, add seven cups of sugar and bring the mixture back to a roiling boil. Cook for ONE minute.