52 minutes ago, Shelby said:@Smithy We used to have a crabapple tree in the yard in Colorado--I swear mom made jelly once.....I remember liking the tartness---but maybe I'm delusional and I tasted it somewhere else. I'll have to ask her. Either way, that is a gorgeous color and I know it was a lot of work, but you guys will certainly enjoy it!
The jelly wasn't as much work as the chutney! I quartered, seeded and chopped those teensy crabapples for the chutney. The jelly recipe says simply to cut off the blossom end and remove the stem at the other end, but to leave the seeds and core. The whole mess gets simmered for some time, then strained to get that lovely pink juice. The instructions emphasize NOT to squeeze the jelly bag because the juice and resulting jelly will be cloudy as a result.
I've been scoping out the crabapple trees up and down our road. There are only two worth harvesting; the other couple dozen have either poor flavor or poor texture. Perhaps the texture wouldn't matter for jelly-making purposes. Maybe I'll find that out in a year or two when the trees bear fruit again.
I absolutely, positively need to do HungryChris' marinated mushrooms, and I keep forgetting! Thanks for that reminder again. I should have time in a few weeks. If it's as delightful as I'm expecting, I'll make up some batches as Christmas presents.
