Grape Conserve - for Merrill

Rinse the grapes. Remove the stems & roughly chop in a food processor. Or, you can put your grapes in a large soup pot and chop them with a hand blender.

Place the grapes in a large soup pot. Gently heat the mashed grapes with 1 cup water until the juice flows, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Run through a food mill or sieve to remove seeds & skins.

Add grape puree to a preserving pan or soup-type pot. Remove seeds from the lemon & dice (including rind). Add to grape puree along with the sugar, dates, and raisins.

Bring to a simmer and cook until thick, about 45 minutes (I know, it's a labor of love) or until about 220 degrees on a candy thermometer.

While the grape mixture is simmering: Get out your water bath canner. Fill with water & bring to a simmer. You can either simmer your jelly jars ( you'll need 5 12 oz jars with lids & bands) in the water bath canner for 10 minutes or roast them in the oven @225 for 10 minutes to sterilize.

In another pot, add the lids & bands & cover with water. Bring to a boil & hold on low until conserve is ready.

Back to the conserve... Put a small plate in the freezer for 10 minutes. After the conserve is about 220 degrees, you'll need to check the set. Take the plate out of the freezer & put about 1 tea of conserve on the plate. Put back in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Take out & slowly run your finger through it. If the mixture is thick & wrinkles when you do this, you can move on.

Once mixture is properly set, add in the walnut pieces. Stir & let cook for 3 more minutes. Skim off any remaining foam.

Remove jars from water bath or oven. Fill jars with conserve, leaving 1/2" head space. Seal with lids & bands, screw down to loosely finger tight. I always err on the side of caution, so I then process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove from the canner & let cool. Any jars that don't seal (lid will flex up & down) should be eaten right away & stored in the fridge.

Enjoy!!