Grapes Galore

For those of you that have visited SLI, you may have noticed that the Oasis is covered with grape vines.  They create a shaded canopy, cooling us when it's blazing in the summer and providing a bounty of grapes - more than we know what to do with.

Grapes in the Oasis

Most of us have been eating them right off the vine - picking a bundle and munching on them between meals. even having them for dessert.  They're pretty seedy, but we don't mind - we crunch right through them.  Some have even begun drying into raisins!  The best are the semi-shriveled half grape, half raisin - they're extra sweet and just the slightest bit chewy.

So, what do we do with all these grapes, you ask?  Juice em!

David & Brandon spent half a day harvesting 2 huge coolers worth of grapes to bring up to our friend Jini's house for juicing.  She has an apple press, and we heard that works just fine on grapes, too.

Brandon mid-harvest (I told you they shade well!)

One of the 2 coolers filled with grapes for juicing

We decided to make an evening out of it, as Jini lives in Redwood Valley, a bit north of Ukiah.  So Brandon, David, Vaughn, Mimi and I rolled up there, grapes and empty bottles in tow, to make some juice as well as dinner.

David and Mimi led the pressing while B and I manned the kitchen.  In 2 hours time, we pumped out approximately 9 gallons of grape juice and 10 pizzas.  Now that's teamwork.

The grape juice is so good but it's sooo sweet!  We're talking syrup-sweet.  I'm sensitive to sugars and after 3 large gulps, I could feel my heart rate amp up.  Vaughn had a hefty cupful and started to felt shaky.  Talk about a sugar rush.  We've found the best way to consume is to cut it with some sparkling water.

So refreshing in the hot summer sun

What does one do with 9 gallons of grape juice?  Make jelly, of course!