Let's Make and Can Cranberry Juice Two Ways!

Let's Make Some Cranberry Juice and I will show you how to can it two ways!

To make your cranberry juice you will need the following:

7 Quart Canning Jars with lids and rings

3 1/2 cups of white sugar

3 12 oz bags of Cranberries

Orange peel is optional

In each jar, measure 1 1/2 cups of cranberries, 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar depending on how sweet you like it, top with water to the 1" mark on your jar, wipe the rim with a clean towel and place your lids and rings finger tight. Finger tight means just that, you are not cranking it down hard.

Now place these jars in your water bath canner with water covering the tops of the jars by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Once boiling you will process at sea level for 25 minutes, adjust the time for your altitude. We are at almost 5000ft so I add an additional 10 minutes.

When done, remove your jars to a cloth covered counter to cool for at least 24 hours. Do not tighten the rings. The sugar will not be dissolved, don't worry, you are going to let these sit on your shelf for 4-6 weeks before you open them. Check your seals the next day, make sure you have a good seal on your jar, remove the rings and wipe the jar well. Lable with content and date and set in your pantry.  You can shake them before you use them and the sugar should have gradually dissolved. Strain the juice and save the berries. You can use them in cakes, breads, muffins, etc.

You can flavor your cranberry juice by adding a strip of orange peel, some apple slices, raspberries, cherries, grapes, what ever you like! Don't be afraid to be creative.

The second way to make your cranberry juice is to place your 3 bags of berries into a large pot, add 10 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil until the berries are soft and release their juice. Strain the pulp and ladle the juice into clean quart jars, wipe your rims with a clean cloth and place your lids and rings, again finger tight. Process in your water bath canner same as above. These are ready to drink right away. If you want some for your table, there is no need to process additional jars, you just pour what you want in a pitcher and can the remainder.

Again, don't toss out the berries you have strained off. You can use them to make fruit roll ups, you can make ice cream with them, you can add them to your baked goods, you can even use them to make a bbq sauce. This is a no waste option.

 And now you know how simple it is to make cranberry juice! I found my berries on sale for $1.50/bag and with the sugar it ended up costing me 69cents a quart! And you know what's in it!

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Let's Make Some Napkins!

Let's make some napkins! These are quick, easy and inexpensive, finish beautifully and they will look lovely on your table. Suitable for gift giving, tucked into a basket with some additional small gifts or even just tied with a pretty ribbon and gifted on their own! Wonderful for a housewarming, bridal shower, birthday, picnic in the woods, you can think of a million ways to enjoy them and gift them.

To start you will need 1 fat quarter per napkin. 1 yard of fabric will make 4 napkins. You can mix and match your fatquarters if you like or have them all the same!

Cut your fabric to measure an 18" square.  Press under 1/2" all around the edges of each napkin as shown below.

Now fold your napkin on the diagonal, matching up one side and creating a point, as shown below. I found it helpful to place a pin to align your edges. 

Using a ruler mark a line measuring 1" as shown below. Line your ruler up with the bottom of the folded fabric as shown and the top of your 1" should rest on the edge of the napkin as shown below. Make your mark with either an air erase pen, or a small sharp pencil, or chalk...just mark with something that will come out easily.

It will help you if you pin the edges of the Napkin as shown before you stitch on the line.

TIP: Start your stitching just a few stitches in from the edge and backstitch to catch and secure, then when you stitch off, backstitch again to secure your other edge.

This is important, you will clip each of the corners after you stitch, you want a clipped shape like the photo below with the wide part to the outside edge and the narrow part to the inside as shown below. Becareful not to clip your stitches, you don't need to get that close.

Finger press your seam open and turn it right sides out, gently use a chopstick or a knitting needle to help turn out your point. Press your napkin and topstitch close to the turned edge as shown below.

You can press again and you are finished! You have beautiful mitered corners and are ready to set your table!

 

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