Huckleberry Jelly

Personally, I don’t understand jelly.  Why waste all that good fruit when you can just make jam — especially huckleberries which have very small seeds.

But for those of you who have left over fruit in your freezer and want to make jelly, here is a recipe I found online for huckleberry jelly:

Huckleberry JellyThis recipe makes approximately 3 pints or 6 half-pints. My great-grandson calls it mamaw jelly!

  • Using a large heavy pot, measure 4 cups huckleberry (or blueberry) juice and 1 package of Sure-Jel in pot. Bring to a rolling boil (a boil you can’t stir down) and then add 5 cups sugar all at once. Bring this to a rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute (time it please) stirring constantly.
  • Take from the heat and let set a few seconds, then skim off the foam from the top. Pour (or dip) the hot liquid into the hot jars. Wipe the tops of the jars with a damp cloth or damp paper towel, then add the hot lids and screw on the rings.
  • Since we live in the south, it is a good idea to put the jars of jelly into a pot, cover with water at least an inch and bring to a boil. Boil from 5 to 10 minutes. This sterilizes the jars, lids and jelly and you shouldn’t have any mold form on your hard-earned jelly.
  • You can cut down on the amount of foam if you add 1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine to the mixture as it cooks. I don’t personally do this, but many people do.

The author of this article made me laugh when he/she added the following comments:

I enjoy picking blueberries, as it takes me back to the days when we used to go into the woods to pick huckleberries. When we happened upon a wild blueberry bush, it was magic. The wild blueberries were so much bigger and easier to pick than the tiny huckleberries. We don’t go wild huckleberry picking anymore. I wonder if anybody does. The blueberries are so much easier to pick, and they aren’t in the woods.

But despite the funny comment above (obviously, they do not live in the Inland or Pacific Northwest where people we ‘kill’ for wild huckleberries!), the article also include another way to use huckleberries:

The wild huckleberries have a little different taste than blueberries. Mama used to boil huckleberries with sugar and drop little dumplings in the hot syrup. That was a mighty good dessert with good thick fresh cream on top. That was before the days of Cool-Whip. If you want a simple dessert, you can do the same thing with blueberries. I don’t have a recipe, you just have to guess at the amounts. That’s what my mother did.

Read the full story for the method of juicing the fruit.

Can’t wait for huckleberry season!!

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