Spruce Tip Jelly

Have I mentioned I love PBS?  Great programming where you can learn something.  Best of all you don't have to be bombarded with commercials, sexual talk at early hours while the children are watching or lots of violence.

I was watching Kitchen Vignettes online and saw this video about Spruce Tip Jelly.  What a great idea.  I have spruce in my backyard.  I love the idea that they can give us food.  Did you know spruce tips are packed with Vitamin C.  Yes!  I am making this.

Spring came, I was armed and ready to do this jelly. I read online that it would taste like grapefruit, citrusy.  You do add quite a bit of lemon and of course you do taste that but there is another flavor that comes through.  I am not sure what I would compare it to, maybe grapefruit no matter, I love the flavor. My husband loved it on his pancakes!

If you want to make this jelly, you will need to do a little research about the kind of tree you have access to to make it.  You don't want to use an Alberta Domesticated Spruce.  So here at Michigan State University is where I did my research.  Apparently different conifers have different flavors.  I found information on those through The Splendid Table and The Examiner.

I could not find Pomona's Pectin so I used regular powder pectin.  I ended up with a soft set.  Which is okay because I probably will use it for a glaze for meat. But then it is pretty good on pancakes. You may have to experiment with pectin to get the set you want.  If you don't mind more sugar in your jelly and want to use regular powder pectin, refer to this recipe at The Last Frontier.  Or you can order the Pomona's Pectin.  I am sure you could get it online.

SPRUCE TIP JELLY

This recipe is my adaptation of her recipe.  I ended up with six pints.

6 cups spruce tips
6 cups water
3 cups cane sugar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
packet of dry powder pectin

Take all the little yellow hulls off the Spruce tips.

  Chop Spruce tips.  Place in stock pot and bring to a boil.

Let it boil hard for three minutes.

Then let it sit until it reaches room temperature.  I let it sit longer, like about four hours.

Strain the Spruce tips, reserving the liquid.  Place back in clean stock pot and add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil.  Once it is boiling add in liquid pectin or a 1/2 cup sugar mixed with powder pectin. Bring back to a boil. Let boil for a full minute.  Turn off heat.  At this point you can test the set by using a very cold spoon.  Put a couple drops of the liquid jelly on to the spoon.  If ti thickens then you will have thickened jelly.  If not, you probably are not going to have a good set.

Ladle jelly into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight. Process jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude if need be. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.  If they do go up and down when pressed store in refrigerator and use it up.  If the lid is depressed and stays depressed then it is properly sealed.  You can store it in a cool, dry and dark place.  

Rendering Tallow

This is was an adventure in cooking for me.

Some time ago I was reading a blog where a woman had rendered suet to make soap.  I thought to myself.  What a lot of work to make soap.  I wouldn't do that.  How would I have the time to do that?  I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Well, apparently, this thought went out into space and came back as a challenge for me to make it.

Recently, we bought a half of a cow.  When I ordered my cuts of meat the butcher asked me if I wanted suet.  I said yes.  Before I had made some English pudding and we really liked it.  I thought, what the heck, I will make some of that pudding.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Oh, the things I would discover as a result.

First of all, most people don't use fat from the cow.  Sadly.  Since this cow gave its life for us, I think we should use all the things we can use and not let things go to waste.  That really is a shame.  I can tell you I will be saving fat from now on.  In this post at the blog, Humblebee and Me, I discovered that morsel of truth and I could not agree with her more.

This site, Cooks Info, I found out more about suet. What it is used for, storage and literature and lore.

I also found out that tallow is great for skin.  I will be experimenting with this idea myself.  You can read all about this one bloggers experience with tallow yourself at Mommypotamus.  I will say that after all my cleaning and such my hands were a lot more soft.

There are two ways of making tallow.  The dry method and the wet method (at Applegarth Farms blog).  I used the dry method. I found this site, The Prairie Homestead and basically followed everything she said.

Here is what I learned.  Go farther than you think because I think I could have rendered more fat than I did. You will see in the picture below where I strained it.  It really could have been more golden.

Clean up is the hardest part about this whole process.  I used a bench scraper for my counter top.  This helped me get rid of a lot of grease before attempting to wash it off.   Regular soap and water wont work very well.  You will have to do it over and over again.  You can use vinegar or any product that "cuts grease".

RENDERING TALLOW 

Cut down suet.  Tearing away the sheath around the fat as much as possible and cutting out meat chunks left behind.

Place processed suet in crockpot.  Set heat to low. The more you break it down before the crockpot step, the faster it will melt.

Once it is cooked down, strain the liquid from the solids.  I did not use cheesecloth.  This strainer worked just fine.

 Pour the liquid into a lined baking dish.

Let cool and then cut into bars.

Wrap and freeze for long term storage.  I am not sure when I will get to making soap with the tallow so I am setting it aside in the freezer for now. I may just end up using it for cooking.