Pomegranate Jelly

I have been looking at 2 big containers of pomegranates on my kitchen counter for almost a week now. Here's one of them.



I got out all my stuff, and got to work. The thing is, the classroom that I work in usually gives gifts to all the staff members of the whole school (yea, the whole school!) that have been helpful to us during the year. That adds up to about 50 people. We had been talking about what to do this year, and a great idea was to make pomegranate jelly. I'm the only one that does that sort of thing. I also have a real hard time saying no. Put those two things together, and that's what I did this weekend. I could have done it at school, but that didn't make too much sense, because depending on the day at school, it can be difficult working in the kitchen for an extended amount of time. Anyway, I got started. I juiced them. I used my trusty, old, cracked, hand juicer. I love it. Can you tell? We go way back.

Pomegranates are messy. Really messy. I cleaned up alot.



Jelly is basically simple to make. All it is? Juice, sugar, and pectin. Pour in the juice. Isn't it beautiful?



I decided that since I needed to make so much jelly, and I didn't know if I would have enough pomegranate juice, I would make pomegranate/apple jelly. I poured in the apple juice. (store bought, plain ol' 100% juice)


Heat it up, and stir in a little sugar, pectin, and just about 1 teaspoon butter. That's to keep the foam from taking over later. Take my word for it. You need it, and the taste is not noticeable.
Let it come up to a hard boil and add the rest of the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Keep a close eye on it until it comes back up to a hard boil, and then boil for 2 minutes.



Take it off the stove, let it sit for a minute or two, skim the little layer of foam off, pour it into jars, and process for 5 minutes. Voila! Pomegranate jelly.