Hot Pepper Jelly

I have not been posting much lately, partly because I have not been making much new food.
And because I have been busy with other things, notably my husband turned 60 last week.
Some dear friends hosted a surprise party at their home. It was a blast !!

Here's a photo of the cake, chocolate cake, of course, from The Buttery. One chocoholic pronounced one of the best chocolate cakes he had even, I would agree, the secret was the ganache filling and frosting.

I did make hot pepper jelly this last weekend. I made it from some red bell peppers and hot pepper I had frozen last fall.

I find this works quite well. I really prefer my produce local thus in season so I do a lot of freezing when things are cheap and fresh from my farmer's market. For this jelly I freeze one recipe's worth of peppers per bag.

Hot Pepper Jelly

This cheery sweet, sour and hot jelly is a classic served over cream cheese with crackers or bread. It is also great on bagels, burritos or quesadillas. You can use it in salad dressing, in sauces or marinades. This jelly makes a wonderful gift.

Ingredients

2 red bell peppers chopped and seeded

4-7 hot red peppers, chopped, leave in as many seeds as needed for desired hotness

1 1/2 cup white vinegar

6 cups sugar

1 pouch of liquid pectin

Besides both kinds of peppers, you will need pectin, sugar and white vinegar.

1) Place all the chopped peppers and 1/2 cup vinegar in the food processor, whiz until blended.

2) Pour mixture into large pot, use the 1 cup remaining vinegar to rinse the food processor. Add to pot along with one pouch liquid pectin.

3)  Stir and heat over high flame until it begins to boil.

4) Once it is at a full rolling boil add 6 cups of sugar and stir well.

5) Once this comes to a boil, time for 1 minute. 

6) Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before canning. This allows the bits of pepper to settle into the jelly and keeps them from all rising to the top of the jar.

7) Do the whole canning magic thing with sterilized jars, lids and canning kettle.

8) Do the hot water bath for 5 minutes, remove jars and allow to cool, check seals and store.

Yield 7-8 half pints