Hot & Spicy

A few summers ago, I discovered jalapeno jelly. It was delicious! I had it as a glaze on porkchops, on a hot deli sandwich in lieu of mustard/mayo, and even slathered some on some cornbread. It was fabulous...that is until it ran out and I had no more!

I searched high and low looking for jalapeno jelly. Farmer's markets had hot pepper jelly but usually it was red (not green like I had previously) and had chunks of peppers where the other stuff had been smooth. I asked a few friends that canned different things and none of them had ever made it. I finally found some at a farmer's market in Virginia when visited my parents. It was great but mailing something as fragile as a jar of jelly comes with risks and FDA guidelines ban liquids more than 3 oz. I had a dilemma!

The dilemma was resolved last week when I met my friend C. C is the Martha Stewart type. When I told her I loved jalapeno jelly, she offered to teach me how to make my very own. Oh my - I was in heaven! And to make matters better, the jalapenos came from her garden!!!

We left all the ribs and seeds in from the jalapenos make it extra hot and spicy. Here are all the lovely jars we made.

Here are the porkchops I made the next night.

Here's a crafty jar, where I added a swatch of fabric and took it to a friend's house who invited us over for dinner.

While I don't have all the equipment for canning (did I mention C's kitchen is to die for?), I do think I could can veggies/jellies/jams but on a much smaller scale than C and I did the other day. It was definitely delicious and worth all the time and effort to make it!