Sitka Spruce Tip Jelly

When one of my friends was over, she showed me the tips on the Sitka Spruce trees all over the back, and told me they can be picked and made into jelly! We had tried a bite of sitka spruce tip jelly, and it had been pretty good, so I decided to try making it myself. She told me the smallest and newest tip are best, which makes it harder to get enough tips, but I thought I better be safe on my first try. After spending too long looking for the brightest, smallest tips, and getting lots of pokes, I had about 8 c of tips. You can tell I got tired of picking the smallest tips, since the big ones are all on top...After covering them with water and simmering for hours, I ended up with 5 cups of tip 'juice', which actually smelled really good. At that point I was excited, since the juice was the same color as the jelly we'd tried before. Unfortunately, I think the acidity of the tips has marred the finish inside my crock pot and pot. So, I figured since I'd done that much work, I ought to finish it up, even though I was sad about my pots, so I mixed it with equal amount sugar, and added pectin. The recipe I saw online mentioned lemon juice, and my friend had told me she mixed it with lemon juice to make lemonade, so I added it in as well. I don't know if that was a great idea; the jelly isn't quite set, and is definitely a different color. I don't know if I'll do it next year, but it's cool to try! The jelly has a fun different taste, but I'm not quite sure what to put in on; we mostly mix our jam/jellies on yogurt and pancakes. It's good, but the lemon/pine smell sometimes reminds me of cleaning my house:)