Jelly, Jelly EVERYWHERE!

Last weekend, I decided to, even though I was sick, make jelly from the Quinces. I had Matt pull out the ladder and I parked Oliver at the bottom of it with a bag. I was quite disappointed as I climbed the ladder. Most of my precious fruit was browning, full of worms or past it's prime. I pulled what I could salvage from the tree all the while taking in the intoxicating smell of the quinces. Someone on the internet said they smell like a cross between a pineapple and a mango and they couldn't have said it better. From the smell of these small, fuzzy, pear shaped fruits, you would think taking a big bite out of one would yield a happy picker. On the contrary, they are sour even though they smell sweet. Not as sour as a lemon, but much more sour than a granny smith apple. So I took what I had, not even a quarter of a bag, and brought them into the house. I began cutting around the brown spots and worms. I thought I'd get maybe 12- 4oz jars of jelly from my crop. I quickly found that from the small amount I had, I was able to fill two pots full of the fruit. This was my first time making jelly and the recipe I found hadn't called for any added pectin. So I foolishly continued cooking, mashing and straining the juices from my beautiful quinces. Now after doing all of that, I ended up with 25 cups of juice!!! AND had I been able to pick a few weeks earlier, I would have doubled if not tripled my yield. To that juice, the recipe called for an almost equal amount of sugar to be boiled down with the juice. I followed the recipe to a T but ended up with a slightly congealed consistancy. It tasted delicious though and I ended up with 24- 4oz jars, 9- half pints and 4- pints (I would have done all 4oz or half pints but I ran out of those jars). The former yellow/green fruits turn a gorgeous red color when turned to jelly!!! All I can say is YUMMY IN MY TUMMY- And guess what you all are getting for Christmas :)

QUINCES you dumb ass---- QUINCES!!!

So today I was quickly looking through my Bon Appetite Magazine....... in there was an article on what is in season during the fall. Drawn in pencil, quite nicely I might add, was a picture of my Peapples- They aren't Peapples, they are Quinces!!!! And after reading online that those babies go for about $2 a pop, I am quite excited that I have an exotic tree in my yard. Now, I just need to find out why they weren't there last year. Are they biannual? Who cares at this point! I got 'em and I plan on cookin' em!!!

Funny thing is my Great Aunt came over today for a party, walked out onto my porch and said, "Oh! Danielle has a Quince tree." We all asked where she was a month ago when we were trying to convince my future brother in law to eat one.