Grocery Prices Are Rising...How to Save Money

If you haven’t heard the news, you’ve no doubt experienced it—food prices are on the rise. I was really amazed last week at the grocery store that almost every staple item was up significantly. That’s hard to take, especially this time of year when we are all preparing special foods for the holidays. There are ways around it, however, but they mostly involve spending time instead of money—and that’s almost as difficult.


A friend asked me what my number one suggestion for saving money on food would be and I didn’t hesitate for a second—a big freezer; or at least some extra freezer space besides your refrigerator freezer. Now that prices are rising, it’s even more important than ever. If you use it properly, the payback is very quick. For instance, on that shopping trip I mentioned—there were several really good buys in the store: apples for $.50 per pound, green peppers for $.79 each—to name two. In every store, every week there are loss leaders that are inexpensive and as long as they are for staple foods and not convenience items, it is worth running from store to store—especially in Red Wing since we’re not a large town.

When I got the apples and peppers home I set to work to prepare them for freezing. The apples aren’t the best for eating out of hand, so I made a fast and easy applesauce out of half of them and sliced up the others for apple desserts. I bought a lot of apples—who knows when I’ll see them for that price again—that’s almost 1/3 the usual price for standard varieties of apples—so I had lots of applesauce that went right into the freezer along with the apple slices in freezer bags. Later, I can make my apple pear soup I serve as a starter at the inn and make apple crisp for the dessert course.

As I was putting the apple stuff into the freezer, I ran across the crabapple juice I had frozen two years ago and the bags of red, white and black currants I had picked two summers ago. Yes, you can successfully freeze some foods for that length of time without loss of quality. I decided now was the time to get them out and make Christmas gifts.

Several hours later, I had 30 jelly jars of crabapple jelly, black currant jam, and currant crabapple jelly (made from the white and red currants mixed with more crabapples.) Along with a loaf of Cardamom bread and some homemade lemon curd, I have some delicious and beautiful gifts all ready for the gift-giving season coming right up. I processed the jelly in a water bath so it doesn’t have to be refrigerated or frozen, but the bread freezes beautifully.

What about the peppers? I made what my Mom called Piccalilli (a mild salsa) by purchasing some red, yellow and orange sweet peppers as well—they were a good buy, too.

Crabapple or Currant Jelly

Crabapples and currants have enough natural pectin (the substance that makes fruit “jell”) so that you don’t have to buy powdered or liquid pectin to make jelly from them. Many other fruits do not, however, and there is a test you can do to find out if your fruit needs added pectin or not: Measure 1 tbsp. ordinary rubbing alcohol into a cup. Gently stir in 1 tsp. cooked, cooled juice. Do not taste—rubbing alcohol is poisonous. If the juice is rich in pectin, it will form a gelatinous mass you can pick up with a fork. Juice low in pectin will remain liquid or form only a few bits of jelly-like material.

For apples: remove stem and blossom ends from 5 lbs. washed crab apples, cut in halves and place in large kettle. Add 8 cups water and cook until fruit is very soft, about 10 minutes. Strain mixture through jelly bag, but do not squeeze or force juice through bag. Measure juice; you should have about 7 cups. Pour into large kettle. Stir in ¾ cup sugar for every cup of juice. Bring to a boil quickly and cook rapidly until mixture sheets from a metal spoon. (Dip spoon in boiling apple juice; drip from about 12 inches above pan, tipping spoon from the side. When juice forms two drips, then comes together to “sheet” off of spoon, jellying point has been reached.) Skim off foam, and pour into sterilized hot jars to within 1/8” of jar top. Wipe rim; adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Remove from canner and place on a folded towel. Self-sealing lids will pop when they are sealed. Makes about 4 half pints.

For currants: Sort, wash and crush 2 ½ quarts currants (red, black or white) without removing stems. Place in kettle; add 1 cup water and bring quickly to a boil over high heat. Lower heat, simmer 10 minutes. Let drip through a jelly bag. Measure juice. There should be 4 cups. Stir in 4 cups sugar. Boil until jellying point is reached. Remove from heat; skim off foam quickly. Pour into sterilized hot jars to within 1/8” of jar top. Wipe jar rim; adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Remove from canner and place on folded towel until seal is completed. Makes about 4 half pints.

For both, let cool for 12 hours. Test seals. Remove screw bands, clean jars, label, date and store.