Messy, but worth it

December here on the Central Coast and elsewhere is the time when the pomegranates become ripe and hang like big, red Christmas balls on their small branches.  Yesterday I picked the last of them off our tree and set about juicing them, which I do by quartering them, submersing the pieces in a bowl of water, and then picking the juicy seeds free while the pieces are underwater, so they don't squirt everything in sight if I happen to pop some open, which I always do.  I do this outdoors on the back patio, because it's still quite messy, even with some of it done by submersion.  And since pomegranate juice makes pretty permanent stains on anything, care is needed anytime you're dealing with this fruit.

And yes, I DO now have a purple splattered concrete walkway in my back garden, but it's better than purple-splattered grout in the kitchen.

At the end of a two-hour session, this is what I had, which yielded about five cups of juice.  Since I drank about a cup right there on the spot (cook's prerogative!) now I have about four cups, which means I only have to replace the one cup and I will have enough to make pomegranate jelly, which I've personally never tasted but am willing to try.  Why not?  Sometimes I wish we'd been given the legacy of some apple or pear trees, but if life gives you pomegranates, make a nice purple walkway and maybe some jelly.  That's what I think, anyway.