Help! (Grapes, plums)

[fecho]

I discovered this forum by searching for possible help in a funny situation. My husband called yesterday from a friend who asked whether I would like to have some home grown table grapes and plums (bachelor, first house). I said, sure! My husband arrived home with over 20 lbs EACH of half ripe grapes and plums, not quite good yet for direct consumption. What the blazes can I do with them? The plums may ripen yet but not the grapes - as far as I know.

 

[FryBoy]

I agree -- the grapes are going nowhere. Maybe the birds would eat them.

As for the plums, I'd pick out a few of the best and put them in a paper bag for a few days to see if they'll ripen, and dump the rest. Whether they ripen sufficiently to eat depends on how ripe they were when picked -- if too green, they're a lost cause. In any case, 10 pounds of plums is a bit much, IMO, and I don't care much for prunes or plum jelly.

Perhaps one shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but you don't have to eat it, either.

 

[lulu]

Bottled plums, plum jelly, plum jams! Plum jellies or conserves are useful to add sweetness and depth to gravies and jus of roasted meats so needed be seen as a purely sweet cupboard blocker, but of course will be great on you morning toast or as a super quick filling for a victoria sponge too. You could also try making plum wine....I am not a wine maker so have no idea about this! You will need to bring the plums to ripeness...but try the brown bag method...put a banana in with them and it almost always works.

I made jam with some windfall plums last year...really tart and sharp and they were free and unexpected....it was one of my most popular jams ever.
Good luck!

 

[fecho]

I agree -- the grapes are going nowhere. Maybe the birds would eat them.

Haha! Not so quick! I figured out what I'm going to do with those grapes. VERJUS!!!

As for the plums, about a third of it is already on the stove. I will make jams from the riper ones, chutney from the greener ones, and I will try to find some other good ideas in the net... I will post the results on my blog.

 

[buckytom]

grilled plums are nice. after grilling, sprinkle with sugar and serve with a sharp cheese.

i love plums soaked in grappa. if you can't get grappa, use vodka. the best plums i can't really remember were called damson plums, sunk into a jar of white lightning.

you could halve and pit a few plums, then toss in a mixture of melted sugar (caramel), oj, and a splash of lemon or lime juice.

and don't forget to dust off the dehydrator and make prunes.

 

[bevkile]

Do you know how hard it is to find plum jam,jelly anything? Don't forget plum pie.

 

[fecho]

Oh gawd, I am geatting really exhausted. Over 20 jars of jams already (actually I ran out of jars, I have to go pick up some tomorrow morning), and I am not even halfway through the plums. "Buckytom, the plums are way too tart to eat them even with sugar, and they aren't good for "bevkile's" plum pie idea either. But "lulu" gave me the idea to prepare some relish type batches, too. The jams are not all the same, I prepared different batches with different flavourings. I still have to prepare one mango-plum batch... yum.

Tonight I will start the verjuice by squeezing the sour grapes. I got my ideas of how to do it from here:
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/verjuice-msg.html
Of course, I will tinker with some grape jellies, too, using the semi-ripe bunches. I will regularly post to my blog, with pictures:
http://housekeepingspace.blogspot.com/
So anyone interested can follow my progress. ))

 

[urmaniac13]

I agree, juice and jams will be great. It is a pity I am too far from you to let you borrow our new fruit dehydrator... we just bought it for a solution to our annual apricot onslaught, we have a big tree and every summer it produces a truckload of apricots.
Dried plums and sultanas would keep for a long time and will be a great snack, also versatile for many recipes. Do you happen to know anyone who has it?