Refuse Jelly

Never in my life did I know you could make so many things out of "reject" parts of food.  For instance- Watermelon Rind preserves? Had no idea!  Corn Cob Jelly? Now we're just getting silly!

It's true though- these are real foods.  For instance, here is the recipe to Watermelon Rind Preserves:

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chopped watermelon rind
• 1 gallon water
• 1/2 cup salt
  
• 9 cups white sugar
• 8 cups water
• 4 teaspoons crushed cinnamon stick
• 4 teaspoons ground cloves
• 4 lemons - rinsed, sliced and seeded
• 1 dash red food coloring (optional)

Directions

1. Peel off the green part of the watermelon rind, and slice into 2 inch pieces. Soak the rind in a solution of 1 gallon water and 1/2 cup salt overnight.
2. Remove rind from the salt water, and place in a stockpot with clean water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the rind is tender. Drain.
3. In a large pot, combine the sugar, 8 cups water, and sliced lemons. Tie the cinnamon and cloves into a cheesecloth bag, and place in the pot. Bring the syrup to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes. Add the rinds, and cook until transparent. Remove spice bag. Stir in red food coloring, if using. Ladle preserves into hot sterile jars, and process to seal.

 And here is the recipe for Corn Cob Jelly-

Boil 6 or 8 sweet corn cobs (after corn is cut off) for about 10 minutes in water to cover. Strain the liquid. Measure 3 cups liquid in the same pan.Add 1 box of Sure-Jell and bring to a rolling boil. Add 4 cups sugar. Again, bring to boil and boil 1 minute. For color, you may add a little yellow food coloring. Pour in glasses, same as any jelly.

All I keep hearing about Corn Cob Jelly is that it tastes just like honey. 

You can do all kinds of neat things with odd pieces of "refuse" that you would think would need to be thrown out or tossed on the compost heap.  It may be worth giving it a shot- imagine serving this to someone and after they ooohh and ahhh over it, telling them not only did you make it- it was made out of rinds or corn cobs!

-Kristen