Judy P's Tickle Trunk

Crab-apple Jelly

If you have ever made jelly of any kind you will know that it is a labour of love. Fruit picking, preparation, jar preparation, straining, cooking, filling the jars, the massive clean-up of all things sticky. Know when you eat my crab-apple jelly that this was a labour of love of the truest kind. Each crab-apple was plucked from the tree with my own hand, some while standing on a ladder. Every single apple passed through my hands again as I cut off the stems and split them. The apples were small, some not so big as a ripe cherry so several hours were involved in getting enough fruit prepared to make a dozen jars. A good chore to do while watching a TV show which doesn’t require much visual attention. I chose Miss Marple which wasn’t wise because I often missed the perpetrators peeking from behind bushes, or seeing who was holding the murder weapon or who had blood on their hem, so the plot didn’t make much sense to me, even when resolved at the end. All the same, it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Mary Pratt, eat your heart out.

The jelly is sweet and tart and for some odd reason has the faintest hit of spice. I love how red it is in the jar. When I juiced crab-apples earlier in October to stretch the blackberries a little further, they were still pale and the juice a soft pink. The later crab-apples are a deep red and give a rich vermillion coloured jelly in the jar, reminiscent of Vermeer’s reds, but it looks like watermelon flavoured Jello when in a small chunk on toast.  Very good on fresh biscuits or as a base for brownies with ice cream, if I say so myself.

Gilding the Lily

This post is dedicated to Marcia Wallace who just passed away on Oct 26. She was one of my favourite characters as the voice of Ms. Krabappel on the Simpsons.

(c) Judy Parsons 2013