Concord Grape Time

It is time to eat grapes, make pie, jam, jelly, and most of all grape bars!  I grew up eating concord grapes every fall since we were in the Finger Lakes Region where there are a ton of vineyards and wineries.  Concords are a slip-skin type of grape that has a very distinctive taste.  To me, there is nothing like it.  Before we moved, the kids and I would take a day off school to go to the lake and get  a couple of pecks of grapes.  On the drive we would enjoy the fall scenery and nice fresh breezes coming off the lake.  It truly is a breathtaking drive with the leaves coloring up for fall and the neat vineyards on the slopes of the lake.  We could hardly wait to get home and start consuming the juicy, fragrant morsels in our baskets.

I wasn't able to find any Concords last year but this year our co-op offered them.  I couldn't resist, so now we have grapes and it takes me back to those fall drives.  

Grapes will store for a long time if handled correctly and stored in a cool place.  We promptly pulled went through the bunches separating the old "yucky" grapes and the split grapes from them.  The old grapes went in the compost and the split grapes went in a pan to be washed and made into grape sauce.  The later being used to make the most highly prized dessert......grape bars.  Once we had the grapes free of old and split grapes they went into the crisper for eating and making into good food.

I will be posting a recipe for the grape bars in a day or two.