Sunday: Day 11 of Challenge: Getting ready to make Prickly Pear Jelly

Happy - well mostly Happy, Adventures in Cooking.  That's my Tenth Day Happiness.

Two days ago, Friday, I picked all the prickly pears off our Opuntia cactus.   It was loaded with them! 











Yesterday I used THIS method to prepare the fruit.  DH helped me (a lot!), and we got some spines in our fingers because we didn't use the suggested leather gloves - which we didn't have; so, we just used stencil brushes (these worked great by the way) and canning tongs.   I suggest that you use the gloves, too, though.   Our hands feel like pincushions! 

Alas, the link does not go to a page that tells you how to make these.  I thought it did. Somehow they are made with THIS tool Clover makes which I remember making out of cardboard.  I'll be looking for another link to the way they are made because we all can hear Christmas hauling around yon CORNER at lightning speed, yes?!  Want more pincushions?  Go HERE  Chirpy Mouse has some lovely tutorials and I'm sure one of them will help with the pattern for these.  And here is TipNut's Blog, filled with 50 free patterns for pincushions.   

Aren't they cute! 

But, I digress... Back to the cactus adventures:

  
The tiny thorns never bothered me before but I've never done this many prickly pears at one time, either.    For some reason, these fruits are also called Tunas.  I've never heard them called that before in a whole long life of picking and eating prickly pears.  Go figure....

Last night, Saturday, I made the juice which will then be made into jelly after I strain it and cook it today.   I'll share pictures of the process on Monday.

Waste not want not!  Boy, I think I'd better get to bed!  Nighty Night!