Traveling with Family, Food and Good Humor – While Trying Not to Gain Weight
What To Do With Wrinkly Grapes
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Bake at 285 degrees for two hours; check and stir them around at one hour
AND HOW DO YOU MAKE THESE SWEET GLOBULES FROM HEAVEN?
Grapes are sweet treats, that are cheap and plentiful right now. I recently bought too many and they started getting a little wrinkly. Not something I want to pack in my lunch, but I definitely didn’t want to throw them away.
This is a perfect opportunity to turn them into something tasty that can be used in salads or as a garnish on fish or chicken. I’m not a raisin fan, but a grape that has been baked slowly to reduce and caramelize – oh mama, this is too good to miss. And easy to do.
First off, pluck those aging grapes and give them a good bath. Roughly dry them and place on a baking tray covered in parchment paper, or a silicon mat.
This silicon liner cleans like a dream and is re-usable. Parchment paper works great and can be tossed. Do not use on a bare tray, unless you want to use a lot of elbow grease cleaning it later!
Heat the oven to 285 degrees. I use the Roast setting. Slide the tray into the oven and set the timer for one hour.
After one hour, check to see how they are shriveling. I’m going for a nice juicy shrivel – reduced in size, concentrated in sweetness, but still some soft chew left in the buggers.
Juice will be seeping out, and they are going to start looking like old wrinkled grapes from a winery assisted living center. Just move them around some to help the juice dissipate a bit more quickly.
Let roast one more hour, or until the wrinkle level you prefer. I like them to be soft and squishy. They are great warm in a salad (or cold) and make a great garnish for fish, chicken, pork or lamb. Amazing on duck!
Cooked down, they aren’t all that cute – but oh, the flavor!
Let them cool and then store in a container. Will keep in fridge for several days; but I bet you eat them faster than that!
As an aging mother of six and grandma to seven, travel was always a dream. Diapers, work and an eccentric high-maintenance husband just seemed to keep those trips a distant desire. Eventually, however, the kids potty trained, lived through the teenage angst years and left the nest to start their own families. Work still gets in the way for my husband, but it does help pay for the trips! Can't do much about the eccentric, high-maintenance husband; after 36 years I have reconciled that he will never pick up his underwear. He's my partner for life, travel companion and can always be counted on to do something totally odd. It makes for a good story, and besides - without his major financial contribution, we would sitting at home year after year, watching yet another rerun of NCIS.
Due to a major health scare, I recently retired - and love retirement! I have always LOVED to cook. My love of food, and birthing those babies, led to an 85 pound weight gain. After joining a weight loss program, I shed the weight, went to work for them and found a new career. For me, it was a dream job. How many people can say they loved their job? I got to work together with people and help them live a healthy lifestyle, and lose weight. And it changed the way I cook! Instead of coating foods with fat and/or sugar, I've learned to bring out the real flavor in foods and keep them healthy. It's a joy to travel the world and explore new foods. I'm always on the lookout for different foods and willing to try almost anything. George, my husband, is always aghast at my choices. He's looking for a McDonald's while I'm trying to find the best local eatery.
Checking out grocery stores and food forums in different countries is endless fun. Bringing back cooking ingredients keeps the memories alive every time they are used in a recipe back home. Paprika from Budapest, Sumac from Turkey, dried squid from Japan....what a lucky person I am to experience it all.
Life is interesting everywhere, and there is always something humorous to be found, even in my own backyard of Mt Hood, Oregon. I love to journal and people have been telling me for years to become a writer. As Medicare is now a prominent part of my life, I figured this was as good a time as any. If I don't do it now, I'll be writing stories about my neighbors in the nursing home. A big trip will probably be whacking along in my walker to the day room to watch the Travel Channel. I take heart that Colonel Sanders started his finger lickin' fortune late in life because he wasn't afraid to try something new. So here I go!
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One thought on “What To Do With Wrinkly Grapes”
Oh my! Of course you’d think of this! Fantastic! Thank you!
Traveling Grandma 
Oh my! Of course you’d think of this! Fantastic! Thank you!
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