The big disappointment

One of my biggest excitements about our new house is the pomegranate tree.  About 10 years ago, after we had been in San Diego county for a while, I passed the strangest looking tree-bush while driving home from work.  So strange it was to my horticultural eye, I had to pull a U-ey at the next opportunity to make sure I saw what I saw.  And yes, it was my first glimpse of a pomegranate tree.  I was beyond excited that they grew in our environment, but alas, living in subdivisions doesn't allow for wild, sprawling fruit trees, just maybe a dwarf....if you're lucky.

When we took our first look at the three acres surrounding this house, the first thing that made me catch my breath and squeal like a child was the fact that the previous owner had GOATS.  Why?  I have no idea.  I guess because I couldn't imagine why any 'normal' person would just have goats around.  (Now I have 4 of my own, and will reserve comment.)  The next discovery, that caused me to jump for joy was the HUGE pomegranate tree in the orchard!  Oranges and lemons, yes, those are typical around here, but pomegranates...not so much.  And by the looks of it, this tree-bush was going to produce DOZENS for me to hoard, or share.  Maybe.

So, flash forward to the fall when the property is ours, the rest of the orchard has been harvested and the last fruit of the season to ripen are the pomegranates.  And there were, in fact, dozens.  And I did share, just a few, though, to select special people.  I had some grandiose dream that I could somehow consume 100 of these delectable fruits.  THEN, I read that you can actually store them for months in the refrigerator, so we have had most of our produce drawer storage full of ripe pomegranates just waiting for the right occasion and recipe.

My plan has been to make jam.  I made several batches of plum jam from our fruit this summer with great success, so this seemed like the logical way to preserve my bounty.  This week, the time seemed right, and despite the fact that several friends commented on the mess and amount of work required to free so many arils from their tough casing and in turn, liberate the juice from said arils, I proceeded unfazed.  That may have been my first mistake.....

The recipe called for juice from 8-9 pomegranates (totally 5 cups of juice).  This lady must have had soccer ball sized fruits because I ended up peeling around 30 freaking pomegranates if I peeled one. I did half the first day, and then had to stop because my allotted time to make the jam start to finish was used after obtaining just 3.5c of juice.  I was still undeterred and giddy.

The next day, after finally obtaining enough juice, and staining about 4 dishtowels, a tshirt and cleaning the kitchen counters and floor half a dozen times, I started with the rest of the process of jam making; boiling, adding sugar and pectin, boiling longer, testing gel stage, pouring into jars and processing in a hot water bath to sterilize.  Let it sit on the counter overnight and in the morning, wake to a beautiful deep, vibrant jam ready for your toast.

If only that was the case.  So, after washing, peeling, separating, blending, straining, pressing, skimming, boiling, mixing, pouring, canning and sterilizing.......I have sweetened, slightly thickened pomegranate juice.  I let the jars sit for an extra 12 hours, hoping some miracle late gel would occur, and when it didn't, I covered the jars with a dishcloth so I didn't have to touch them or look at them.  And there they still sit, 3 days later. 

I've been ignoring them for days now and get this, they STILL have not decided to gel.  I have been consumed with what to do with them.  Recooking them and processing the jam again would be more time I don't want to commit to something that failed so miserably.  Yet I have so.many.hours. into this project I can't just toss it either. It's not even thick enough to use as syrup on pancakes!

This morning I woke up to a light, steady rain.  The kind of rain that makes farmers and transplanted Midwesterners breath extra deep to capture the earthy smells while a little extra spring appears in their step.  I walked the orchard in the rain today and noticed I have buds forming on my plum and peach trees already and some of the oranges have finally lost that last tinge of green, ready to be picked.  Another cycle begins, another opportunity.  And while the pomegranate substance in those jars, on the counter, under the dishcloth could not even be mistaken for syrup, I found a GREAT recipe for mixing pomegranate juice with tequila.  Not all was lost.  Maybe next fall I will hoard less and share more.  You can all hope......