On Sunday it was very windy, and when we got to Niall’s mum’s for lunch she pointed out into her garden and we saw piles of unripe apples scattered all over the grass. Oh dear. After lunch we gathered them all up and Niall wondered whether they could be made into jelly like the crab apple jelly his mum used to make. I didn’t see why not, so I ordered a cheap kit off the internet to strain the juice, some wee jars and a jam funnel.
When I weighed the apples there were nearly 3 kilos – wow, that’s a lot! I was hesitant about my jam making abilities (I’d only ever helped mum before, and that was a long time ago). So on Monday I cooked up a kilo of them until they were a mushy pulp and left them straining overnight. Yesterday I took the pint of juice that resulted, added sugar and lemon juice and … made apple jelly!
It’s a bit firmer than I’d ideally like (I left it a bit long), but it tastes lovely. We had some with our tea last night and Niall said it might even be nicer than his mum’s crab apple jelly. So tonight I’ve cooked up the remainder of the apples and the juice is gradually dripping through. Tomorrow I’ll make more jelly and hope it’s at least as good.