Don't Throw It Out ~ Make Jelly Instead

Now days it seems everywhere you look people throw out the most useful of things. Oh it bothers me so. For instance, I was strolling through Sam's warehouse club the other day and there in front of me I saw the cell phone booth employee throwing out a perfectly good sales poster. Apparently this particular promotion was over and so was the life of that poster board for the company. So in the trash it went. Oh my heart ached as I watched. I politely asked her if she minded if I took it. She looked at me funny and said sure, go ahead. So I did. The back of it was stark white and it was the perfect size and thickness to use for a school project (yes, I know the end of the school term is here but there's always next Fall.) It could be used for a myriad of things, so now the life of that promo poster will live on. Best yet, it was absolutely FREE!

So with that in mind, I want to share a recipe with you that might make you rethink your food trash. Instead of throwing out those corn cobs, give them a new life and purpose. Here's how...

Corn Cob Jelly
7-12 ears of cob corn
6 c. water
1 pkg. powdered pectin (I tried it with liquid as the photo shows but it did not set up as well, so I re-did it using powdered, as I normally do..and it worked great. This proves, change is not always good.)
4 c. sugar
yellow food color

Clean and sterilize 6-7 half pint size jars, as well as lids and seals in a water bath canner.




Cut kernels from corn cobs and save for later use. Place cobs in a large, heavy pot. Add water and bring to a rolling boil. Allow to boil for a full 10 minutes. Remove cobs and discard. Strain liquid through a jelly strainer. Measure out 4 cups of liquid. If the liquid is not 4 cups, add water to supplement.




Pour liquid back into pot and bring to a boil. Add in powdered pectin and bring to a boil. Stir in sugar and bring back to a full boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in a few drops of yellow food coloring.



Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot liquid into hot sterile jars. Wipe rims of jars with a damp towel to remove any drips. Place seal and band on each jar. Tighten to finger tip tight. Place jars upside down on counter to seal. Once jars have completely cooled, turn right side up and check to make sure each seal has properly sealed.

If seals do not seal completely store in icebox and use soon or repeat process starting with clean sterile jars.

If you have never tried this, you really should. For those that might be wondering how it taste...it taste more like honey than jelly. Give it a try for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

Click HERE for printable recipe