October 21, 2012
Pink Leopard Princess Party!
It was Perfect Peyton's Pink Leopard Princess Party! Ya, there might have been a mustache or two around as well..... What's a party without a mustache?
October 18, 2012
October 14, 2012
October 12, 2012
Christmas Gifts
What a darling little gift for teachers and neighbors right?! Pepper Jelly is easy to make, kind to your budget and unique. Perfect.
October 10, 2012
Pepper Jelly Recipe and Procedure
Chopped jalapeños
Chopped bell or anaheim pepper
1 1/2 C cider vinegar
6 C sugar
4 oz liquid pectin
Food color (optional)
Remove ribs and seeds from peppers and finely chop.
In a deep pan add vinegar, sugar and peppers. Place on medium heat gently stirring often until it's at a full boil.
Remove from heat and slowly add liquid pectin while stirring. Add food color if desired.
Pour jelly into warm and sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Carefully wipe the tops of the filled jars with a damp paper towel. (if there's anything on the top rim of the jar it may not seal properly)
Place sterilized lids and rings onto jars (rings do not have to be really tight)
Place jars in a warm water bath and bring to a full boil. I leave my jelly in for about 30 minutes because I live at a high altitude and I'm a little paranoid.
Helpful hints.....
Wear gloves while working with peppers because they WILL burn your hands (yup, speaking from experience).
I like to bring the whole mix to a boil slowly, this seems to create a beautiful, consistent and smooth flavor.
In my first round of jelly making I placed most of my peppers in the processor to make a purée, I chopped the remaining peppers by hand until I had them finely minced (I wanted to have little red and green 'specks' throughout the jelly). Using the pepper puree resulted in a cloudy jelly and that's not the vision I had in my head. I pictured a beautiful green jelly that you could kind of see through. I was a little bummed with the appearance but WOW the taste was AMAZING!
Round two I tried for a clear jelly so I chopped the peppers then placed them in a strainer to remove some of the liquid. I then added the peppers and a little bit of the strained fluid to the vinegar mix. The result was beautiful but the pepper flavor just wasn't there (it was still yummy but it didn't have that fantastic flavor. I'm not talking about the heat, just the flavor of the pepper itself).
Round three..... This time I did the same as my second batch but I added all of the pepper juice that I had strained out. Ya it was good but it STILL didn't have the FLAVOR! Ahhh!
At last I made a decision..... Flavor over appearance - hands down.
Ok so at this point I thought I was done with experimenting, ya I was wrong.... For some reason I thought 'hmmmmm, what about red peppers? How would they do if I pureed them? Would they be different from the green? Guess what?? Red is different (in my eyes anyway). I pureed red peppers, chopped a few by hand for 'specks' & ta-da it was beautiful!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! It has it all.... It's beautiful and tastes amazing! Yay me!
I chose to do both colors of peppers since I plan to give them out at Christmas (get it? Red and green! Christmas colors!). Since the red worked the best I did all the jellies red with only a few specks of green peppers. I love the final result!
I plan to make cute little tags explaining how to serve the jelly (over cream cheese and served with crackers). Then I will put them in a cute little cellophane bag and tie it up with something fabulously Christmasy. I think that for teachers and close friends I'll create a gift basket that will include crackers, cream cheese and a cute little spreading knife. Oh! I could pick up some cute little serving plates, place the jelly, cream cheese and crackers on the plate and wrap it all up with cellophane. Wow, the possibilities are endless. (I love it when that happens!)
I will post pics when I start putting the baskets together.
Chopped bell or anaheim pepper
1 1/2 C cider vinegar
6 C sugar
4 oz liquid pectin
Food color (optional)
Remove ribs and seeds from peppers and finely chop.
In a deep pan add vinegar, sugar and peppers. Place on medium heat gently stirring often until it's at a full boil.
Remove from heat and slowly add liquid pectin while stirring. Add food color if desired.
Pour jelly into warm and sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Carefully wipe the tops of the filled jars with a damp paper towel. (if there's anything on the top rim of the jar it may not seal properly)
Place sterilized lids and rings onto jars (rings do not have to be really tight)
Place jars in a warm water bath and bring to a full boil. I leave my jelly in for about 30 minutes because I live at a high altitude and I'm a little paranoid.
Helpful hints.....
Wear gloves while working with peppers because they WILL burn your hands (yup, speaking from experience).
I like to bring the whole mix to a boil slowly, this seems to create a beautiful, consistent and smooth flavor.
In my first round of jelly making I placed most of my peppers in the processor to make a purée, I chopped the remaining peppers by hand until I had them finely minced (I wanted to have little red and green 'specks' throughout the jelly). Using the pepper puree resulted in a cloudy jelly and that's not the vision I had in my head. I pictured a beautiful green jelly that you could kind of see through. I was a little bummed with the appearance but WOW the taste was AMAZING!
Round two I tried for a clear jelly so I chopped the peppers then placed them in a strainer to remove some of the liquid. I then added the peppers and a little bit of the strained fluid to the vinegar mix. The result was beautiful but the pepper flavor just wasn't there (it was still yummy but it didn't have that fantastic flavor. I'm not talking about the heat, just the flavor of the pepper itself).
Round three..... This time I did the same as my second batch but I added all of the pepper juice that I had strained out. Ya it was good but it STILL didn't have the FLAVOR! Ahhh!
At last I made a decision..... Flavor over appearance - hands down.
Ok so at this point I thought I was done with experimenting, ya I was wrong.... For some reason I thought 'hmmmmm, what about red peppers? How would they do if I pureed them? Would they be different from the green? Guess what?? Red is different (in my eyes anyway). I pureed red peppers, chopped a few by hand for 'specks' & ta-da it was beautiful!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! It has it all.... It's beautiful and tastes amazing! Yay me!
I chose to do both colors of peppers since I plan to give them out at Christmas (get it? Red and green! Christmas colors!). Since the red worked the best I did all the jellies red with only a few specks of green peppers. I love the final result!
I plan to make cute little tags explaining how to serve the jelly (over cream cheese and served with crackers). Then I will put them in a cute little cellophane bag and tie it up with something fabulously Christmasy. I think that for teachers and close friends I'll create a gift basket that will include crackers, cream cheese and a cute little spreading knife. Oh! I could pick up some cute little serving plates, place the jelly, cream cheese and crackers on the plate and wrap it all up with cellophane. Wow, the possibilities are endless. (I love it when that happens!)
I will post pics when I start putting the baskets together.
October 9, 2012
Pepper-mania.... Oh my!
It's October 8th and yep, I'm done with my Christmas gifts for neighbors and teachers. Yay me!
My spicy theme was a bit of an accident. I picked loads and loads of peppers from the garden, made salsa, tomato paste, tomato soup, green chili sauce, pickled peppers and pepper jelly (yes, I am peppered out!). When I started canning pickled peppers I thought "Hmmm, this looks like Christmas! Perfect!" Then I moved on to peppered jelly (which I have never ever made) it turned out amazing and once again.... Christmas colors.
Ta-da Christmas gifts, dough style of course.
My spicy theme was a bit of an accident. I picked loads and loads of peppers from the garden, made salsa, tomato paste, tomato soup, green chili sauce, pickled peppers and pepper jelly (yes, I am peppered out!). When I started canning pickled peppers I thought "Hmmm, this looks like Christmas! Perfect!" Then I moved on to peppered jelly (which I have never ever made) it turned out amazing and once again.... Christmas colors.
Ta-da Christmas gifts, dough style of course.
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