Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Apple Soda

This fall I had about a bushel of Macintosh apples to use.  I made apple sauce and attempted to make apple jelly.  I say attempted because the jelly never set.  I've never had that happen with my apple jelly before.  I think perhaps the apples were too ripe to have enough pectin.  But the jars sealed well so I knew I had plenty of time to try again.

This past weekend I rebatched the jelly using some pectin I had tucked in the back of the cabinet.  And guess what?  It still didn't set!  I was really shocked because I did everything right, both times.  And, as I said above, I've never had apple jelly not set before.  I even gave someone my instructions for making apple jelly and hers set up wonderfully. 

Then I took a good hard look at my pectin label.  The sell by date was 2011.  I think it's quite possible I should have read that before I used it.  After some research I quit worrying that it wasn't safe to consume and decided not to try again with this batch.

So I spent a day being depressed and wondering why the apples hated me this year.  Once I was done with that, I started thinking about all the things I could do with my new wonderful apple syrup.  I had thoughts of apple cinnamon pancakes and french toast.  Apple syrup on vanilla ice cream with crushed vanilla wafer cookies sounded good too.

Then I came up with this:
Apple soda.  I simply took 2 tablespoons of the apple syrup and filled the glass with club soda (about 8oz).  Complete deliciousness in a glass. 

Now I am wondering if I can make syrups on purpose with other fruits.  The possibilities are endless.  I'm most looking forward to trying it with the black raspberries that grow wild here. 

Yep, every now and then a mistake can turn out to be a grand adventure in creativity.  This also moves a Soda Stream higher up on my list of wants.

2 comments:

  1. Haha....wants vs: needs. You made me laugh out loud my friend! Loving this blog. :)

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    1. Ha! Wants vs. Needs is why that Soda Stream is still on the list instead of in my kitchen! Glad you like the blog. :)

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