Easy Muscadine Jelly

My parents recently moved into a new home. It came with a big Muscadine vine and mature peach trees. The peach trees did not produce many peaches but the Muscadine vine is full of fruit. 

I made a visit one day to pick some muscadines. Within a few minutes I had a small bucket full. I was not sure what to do with them so I washed and put them in the fridge. For a week, we would reach in and grab one or three for a snack but I still had a lot and wanted to do something with them before they went bad. 

I decided to make jelly. Mom told me I did not need to add extra pectin and all I need to do is boil them hull and all. Then strain them afterwards. She said they have enough natural pectin to do the trick.

I looked around online anyway and every recipe I found had added pectin. I took my moms advice and went with what she said.

Mom was right (as always). With 3 cups of muscadines, I was able to fill three small jelly jars of thick jiggly jelly. I gave a jar to my mom and dad and one to my daughter. We kept one for ourself and it is almost gone.

Here is how I made Muscadine jelly.

• 3 cups of muscadines.
• 2 1/4 cups of sugar (3/4 cup to every cup of muscadines).
• 1/4 cup water.

Add muscadines, water and sugar in a pot and boil for about 20 minutes. 

With cheese cloth, strain the muscadine mix into a pot and boil for another 5 to 10 minutes. 

Note: You can seperate the hulls and boil them separately. Place the hulls in a food processor to chop fine and add them to the stained muscadine mixture. This would make it jam. 

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To test if it is ready, place a plate in the freezer for a few minutes to get it cold. Add a drop of the Muscadine jelly to the cold plate. It should move when the plate is tilted but not runny and watery. It will have a slight skim texture on the top when you touch it. This is how you know it’s ready to put in a jar and place in the refrigerator. It will thicken as it cools. This is called refrigerator jelly. 

It turned out great and went good on my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and toast. I may be going back soon for some more grapes because I found a recipe for Muscadine cobbler I want to try soon. 

Muscadine vs Scuppernong: Muscadines are red (or purple) and Scuppernong is golden green. Scuppernongs are the state fruit of North Carolina. All Scuppernongs are Muscadines but not all Muscadines are Scuppernongs. Confused yet?

The Vaccine

I’m getting really tired of hearing about that dern vaccine. I enjoy social media but it seems everyone is attacking everyone over a vaccine. I have had friends ‘unfriend’ me over political views, mask mandates and now vaccine choice. I think all of this should be part of our freedom and no one should be shunned or made fun of for their choice.

 

I have made my choice not to get vaccinated. I do not have a political reason for not taking the vaccine. It’s a personal health choice for me. I am afraid that one day they will force people to have the vaccine to keep their jobs or get a job. When that time comes, I will have to make a choice, but until it’s forced on me, I will say no. 

People say I’m being selfish because of my choice. No. I am not selfish and I truly believed that if all this mask and vaccines worked I would comply. I have enough since to keep my distance from people and take extra precautions about touching things. If I would ever feel feverish or sick, I would stay home and away from others. I’m a germaphobe like this anyway. 

You say non vaccinated people are selfish, we say people that say these things are selfish. It can go on back and forth all day. No one is right and no one is wrong. I just simply do not want to take the vaccine for health reasons and trust concerns too. I know people that have passed away within weeks of taking the vaccine. There is no proof that the vaccine was the cause of death but those that have died with covid have no proof it was from covid either. I’ll take my chances. 

I work hard to stay healthy. I have not been to the doctor for a cold in 3 years. If I make to December, It will be 4 years since I have had a cold. I never get a flu a shot either. I only remember getting the flu once in my life. I do not take any medicines other than a Tylenol for a head ache or joint pain. I eat healthy and take my vitamins. Why would I want to put an unknown, newly created, half approved so called experimental vaccine into my body? I need proof it works. I want to see the effects it has both short term and long term. Why is that selfish? Why should I be punished for staying healthy?

People say “well you took other vaccines when you were a baby and your fine”. Well it took years to approve those vaccines and they worked! It wiped out the disease (or virus) with one shot. You didn't have to keep taking a booster every year because of a new variant and they were not created or approved within a few months in the middle of a political debate or crisis.

I believe if you think you need to take the vaccine, then you should take it. But if you don’t want to take the vaccine then it’s your choice. If you have taken the vaccine, you shouldn’t have to worry about catching the virus, right? 

My daily vitamins include: D3, Zinc, Calcium, Heliocare, Magnesium, Turmeric.