Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

Never in a million years would I have thought I would like something called Jalapeno Pepper Jelly.  Fortunately for me, I once worked with an awesome woman named Donna.  And she is like Martha Stewart.  She is also more adventurous than I.  And she introduced me to this amazing stuff -- which she had made.  And then she gave me the recipe.

I've been making it most years since 2009.  And I give it away for Christmas gifts.  I have several friends who request it.  It is awesome stuff.

Because I like to make it every year (though it's another one of those things I have a love/hate relationship with...), I usually try to plant my own peppers to put in it.  This year that was the case.  And this year...  My peppers got hot hot hot!  And plentiful!  I had more than enough peppers just from my garden, so I didn't have to supplement with store-bought peppers :).

So this stuff is awesome.  But I said that already.  It's sweet heat.  And delicious.  Especially with cream cheese on Ritz crackers!

And here's the recipe (don't worry, I asked Donna first if I could share it :)).

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
3 large green bell peppers, cored and seeded
20 jalapeno peppers, not seeded
1/3 cup water
2 cups Cider Vinegar
5 lb bag sugar
4 packets liquid Certo (2 boxes)

Wash the peppers.  Remove stem from the jalapenos. Core and seed the bell peppers.

Place all peppers, water and vinegar in food processor or blender and blend.  Strain liquid into a big dutch oven.  Add sugar and cook over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil for 5 minutes over low heat.

Add Certo. bring to boil and cook one minute. Skim top with metal spoon to remove foam. Add a couple drops of green food coloring to achieve a nice color (optional).

Ladle into sterilized jelly jars and seal with paraffin or water-bath according to jelly instructions.  Cool.

Yield: 12  jelly jars

Tips: I use a blender and all the peppers do not fit at one time-- so I have always worked in batches: some peppers and liquid; more peppers more liquid. etc.

Anyway, this stuff is awesome.  I happen to have a large quantity (some from 2012), so if anyone wants to try it out, let me know.  I'm willing to share my extra.  However, the stuff from 2012 is a little less set, because I was trying to skimp on the Certo.   Lesson learned:  don't skimp on that. ;).

Roasted Buttercup Squash

This year we planted a lot of squash.  Of a lot of different varieties:  crookneck, yellow zucchini, green zucchini, acorn, and buttercup.  Not to be confused with butternut...  I'd never heard of buttercup squash before, but we figured we'd plant it and see what happened.  It's a winter squash. 

Well, we got 2 buttercup squash from our plant.  And the easiest way to eat it is by slicing it in half, roasting it, and adding butter and brown sugar.  So that's just what we did :).

In case you're like me and don't trust yourself to cook without some sort of recipe...  Here's how it goes:

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut squash in half and scoop out and discard pulp and seeds.  Place cut-side down on a baking dish (I covered mine with foil because I have a lazy streak).  Bake for 30 minutes.  Flip over.  Place 1/2 tablespoon butter in each half.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar over meat.  Bake an additional 25 minutes.  Enjoy!

My husband eats the skin...  I don't.  I just eat the flesh stuff inside. 

This is what a buttercup squash looks like.  They aren't particularly large -- this was the larger of the two we got.  I thought it tasted good, but we probably won't plant these again...  We just didn't get as much as we'd hoped we would from the plant.

We served this as a side dish to buffalo chicken pasta salad and garden zucchini cakes.  Because I love those two items :).