violet jelly

This is the prettiest jelly I've ever made. It was pretty the entire making and I took so many pictures. It's wild violet jelly. 

Yep, made from those pretty spring violets that grow in the yard. 

I had two lovely pickers.  Bee and a neighbor picked and picked. Then they got bored and went to play with their horses.  They have imaginary horses that live on the pool deck.  They dutiful feed, water and exercise them.

You'll need a lot of those lovely violets, about 3 cups.

You'll also need the juice of a lemon, 3 1/2 cups of sugar, and a box of sure jell.

Pick the stems off the flowers.  You don't have to get crazy about getting off all the green, it won't matter.

I rinsed the flowers, but I suppose it doesn't matter.  We have a dog, thought it might be best (have you met him, he's lovely).

The flowers get 2 1/2 cups boiling water poured on top. 

And left to steep. 

And get prettier and prettier.

It's best if you work in the smallest corner of the kitchen.  I dream of big open countertops!

While the violets are soaking, squeeze the juice of the lemon. 

You should totally use what's left of the lemon to make lemonade.  Sugary, delicious lemonade.

The violets turn the water such a pretty blue.

Strain them, saving the wonderful blue water for cooking.  Toss those mushed violets in the compost.  They smell a little funk at this point.

The violet water turns from the deep blue to...

a bright pinky purple as soon as you add the lemon juice.  Turn up the heat.  Add the package of sure jell and bring to a rolling boil.  Add 3 1/2 cups sugar.  Bring back to a boil.  Boil for a minute or two.  Stir well the whole time.

Process now as you would any jelly.  Pour into clean and ready jars. 

I used my tattler reusable lids.  They are a two piece lid.  They work great for jelly.

Process for 5 minutes. 

Allow 24 hours to set up, but it you can't, it's fine.  We ate ours about 2 hours after I made it.  I cut up a whole chicken and we had fried chicken and mashed potatoes and biscuits.  We needed the jelly.  It has a light flavor, almost grape.  It was sweet and yummy and we gobbled it up. 

Hubby mowed the yard that same night.  We hope to get one more picking of violets and make another batch of jelly.