Golden Harvest Farms, great apples, donuts, vodka and more
Perhaps one of the best road side farm stands in the Hudson Valley is Golden Harvest Farms on Route 9 in Kinderhook. The farm has more than 200 acres of apple varieties, makes the best cider donuts to be found anywhere in the Hudson Valley, and even has a distillery that is making applejack and apple vodka. In the fall the parking lot is lined with pumpkins as far as the eye can see and the weekends become feverishly busy as weekenders stop to buy Halloween pumpkins and sample vodka. Like any great farm market there are not only bushels of apples, donuts, pies, turnovers, and cider, but also fruit preserves, produce, and local cheeses. The distillery has won several awards for its high quality spirits which are distilled entirely from local fruits. For the vodka, distiller Derek Grout ferments a batch of Golden Harvest apple cider which is then distilled into his signiture Core Vodka.
Ball recipe for apple jelly
By Published: October 23, 2016
- Yield: 10 Servings
- Prep: 20 mins
- Cook: 25 mins
- Ready In: 45 mins
A delicious apple jelly recipe. Having the right amount of pectin can be tricky. If, after a week, the jelly seems that it hasn’t set enough, you may need to reheat the jelly and add a touch of liquid pectin. Then process the jelly jars with sterile lids in a water bath again
Ingredients
- 3 pounds apples
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice strained
- 3 cups sugar
Instructions
- WASH apples.
- Remove stems and blossom ends; do not peel or core.
- Cut into chunks.
- COMBINE fruit chunks and water in a saucepan.
- Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Crush and simmer additional 5 minutes.
- STRAIN mixture through dampened jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth to extract juice.
- Let juice drip, undisturbed, for 2 to 4 hours
- In a large deep stainless steel saucepan combine the apple juice, lemon juice and sugar.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring to dissolve sugar.
- Boil hard, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to sheet from a metal spoon, about 25 minutes remove from heat and test gel.
- If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam.
- Quickly pour hot jelly into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.
- Wipe rim.
- Center lid on jar.
- Screw band down into resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
- Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water.
- Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes.