Choke Cherry Adventure

Here is the sticky process of making Choke Cherry Jelly. First one must retrieve all of the choke cherries from the freezer and then pick out all of the leaves that made it into the freezer bags. Rinsing carefully, also remove as many stems as you can get your hands on.

I found a recipe on Cooks.com for the jelly. I would recommend it because I find the end result just fantastic:

CHOKE CHERRY JELLY

3 c. choke cherry juice

1 c. apple juice

1 pkg. Sure Jell

5 1/2 c. sugar

Put washed choke cherries in kettle with enough water to cover. Boil until cherries are soft. Drain off juice. Mix in saucepan, choke cherry juice, apple juice and Sure Jell, boil to hard rolling boil. Add sugar and boil until it thickens slightly on spoon. Seal in jars.

I did, according to the package of Sure Jell, then hot water bath the jelly jars for about 15 minutes a batch. This sealed them perfectly! I had enough juice to make a double recipe which resulted in about 15 cups (or 15 8oz. Jelly Jars) worth of product! YEA!

Then I decorated said little Jelly Jars for the Christmas Holidays that are soon upon us. It was a long, hot, sticky day...but totally worth it. And now that I've done it once, I'm sure the next time will be even easier!