Musky Dimes Jam

• servings: 4 half-pints

Ingredients

4 quarts ripe muscadine or scuppernong grapes, stemmed and washed

3 cups sugar

Directions

Place the grapes in a large bowl and mash until crushed. Transfer the grapes, with their juice, to a large pot and add enough water to just cover them.

Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Place a colander over a large bowl and transfer the grapes to the colander.

Using the back of a spoon or your hands, press the juice through the colander. Strain the juice through cheesecloth; you should have at least 4 cups.

Pour the strained juice into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the sugar in a small pot over medium heat until it turns to a clear syrup. Pour the sugar into the juice, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the liquid reaches 220°F on a candy thermometer, about 25 minutes.

Skim off any foam. Pour into hot, sterilized half-pint jars and seal.

Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, according to the directions on page 126. Check the seals and store in a cool, dry place. Refrigerate after opening.

Notes

Dolly says: "The passion fruit of the South, scuppernong. Whatever you call them, muscadine grapes--"musky dimes" is what I liked to call them as a child-- are so delicious, it's a miracle they ever made it to Mama's kitchen from the fields where we picked them. We would gather buckets full of these beautiful wine-colored grapes that grew on huge vines along the river. We'd eat all of the dark purple ones in the warmth of the Indian-summer sun. They have a thick, tough outer skin and a musky odor. Muscadines grow in clusters of four or more fruits, not in bunches like the grapes you buy at the grocery store. I use cheesecloth to strain the juice from the grape skins, but we never had such a thing when I was growin' up--Mama just used an old dishrag."