Have you ever tasted a Concord grape? They taste bright and intense, although they are a little unsettling to eat. There is a thick skin that covers a gelatinous sac of flavor that encases a few seeds. After sucking on a few, I’m done, although the flavor is amazing. One way to capture that flavor all year round is to make them into jam.

WARNING: I’m not going to lie–this project is tedious and has a high likelihood of staining.

But it is fun, there are some great opportunities for kids to help, and what you have left is some real, old fashioned grape jam that will make the best PB&J sandwiches you’ve ever had.

The first step of the recipe calls for slipping the skins off the grapes. This is a great job for preschoolers and older. They’re fun to squish, and what pops out looks a lot like a frogs’ eggs. I’m going to save a few for Halloween.

I got seven half-pints of jam from this recipe and I used evaporated cane sugar. I had to bust out the Magic Eraser to get some spots off my walls, and this took the better part of an afternoon. Despite all that, I still recommend going to your local farmer’s market for some fall grapes.

Here’s the recipe I followed, although most of the ones I looked at were very similar.

Have you made any jam this year? I think this will be our last. We’ve put up several pints of strawberry rhubarb, cherry, blueberry, and now grape.