Corn/Black Bean Salsa and Sand Plum Jelly

It's that great time of year for the garden.  Harvesting and preserving!  My brother-in-law had picked a bunch of corn at his cousin's house and gave me some.  We don't eat a lot of corn but I thought I would try making some salsa with it.  Mmm, Mmm, good! 

Just need chips!

There are also so many things to harvest that you don't grow yourself.  You should really take the time to learn about the things that grow in your area that are not only safe to eat, but wonderful as well.  Around here, one of those things is sand plums!  Thanks again to my brother-in-law!  He had gone fishing back west this weekend and pick a couple of 5-gallon buckets full.  He brought me about 3 gallons worth.  A sand plum is small, about the size of a cherry, but let me tell you, they make some of the best jelly you will ever eat.  After sorting them out and getting rid of the bad ones (they grow wild so they would be perfectly organic and therefor a little wormy) they were washed thoroughly and then put in the pan to make juice.  No need to pit or cut and peel.  Just add water and cook until the skins pop then drain off and keep the water, then smash through the colander.  Take the smashed pulp and drain through a cheese cloth.  Add this back to the cooking water.  Measure out the juice according to your recipe and proceed. (I strained it a second time for really clear jelly).  Now I may have to break down and make some homemade bread!

Before

During

After

I still have enough juice to make another 8-half pints!