Spruce Tip Jelly

In case you were scratching your head just wondering WHAT to do with all those Spruce tips you gathered, I have a recipe for you! Spruce tip jelly!!! I know it sounds really odd and I didn't think I would care for it a bit, but it's actually not too bad. My favorite way of eating it is on a cracker with some cream cheese. Makes me feel all fancy like. Just wait till you can tell your friends, "Hey friends! I'm not only a tree hugger, I'm a tree eater!" But seriously. Your house will smell like a forest when you make this stuff, and then it will kinda taste like you are eating a forest. It's awesome. What's that?? No Spruce tips?? Well if you have access to them you should gather some. It's super easy and quite fun. Learn more about foraging for

This recipe is adapted from the book The Boreal Herbal by Beverly Gray

Ingredients:

• 4 cups spruce tips

• 4 cups water

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons pectin

• 3/4 cup sugar

1) Bring the tips and water to barely a boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow this to cool to room temperature. 

2) Strain the tips out. The remaining liquid should equal about 3 cups. 

3) Mix together the spruce infusion, lemon juice and pectin in a saucepan. Stir until the pectin is dissolved. Bring to a full boil for 1 minute.

4) Stir in the sugar and bring the mixture back to a full boil. Boil hard for at least 1 minute, but mine needed a little longer. 

5) You will know it's ready when it has a syrupy like consistency when you remove the spoon. Let it cool a little and touch it. It should be a little sticky and wrinkle a little. 

**To continue canning via a hot water bath follow these instructions:

1) Fill a water bath canner 3/4 full of water. Bring to a boil. 

2) Meanwhile, wash and dry canning jars, lids and rings in hot soapy water. Place the lids and rings in a pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat, leaving the lids and rings in the water. 

3) Make your jelly. Fill your dry canning jars with the mixture, leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Screw on a lid.

4) Once you've filled all your jars, place them on the elevated rack of the canner and lower gently into the boiling water. Cover and bring the water back up to a gentle boil.

5) Process for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the jars out of the water and allow them to cool. Once they are cool, you can test the lids to ensure they sealed properly. If the lids spring back up, they are not sealed and you will need to store in the fridge. Otherwise the rest are good to store on a shelf!