Hi Everyone and Happy Sunday!!
Remember last week when I had my Jamming Away Sunday? I shared with you my Cranberry Orange Quick Jam and I also mentioned that I made Pepper Jelly too! My description last week for the Pepper Jelly was dam hot, curl your toes jelly!! I honestly thought it was too hot and that was coming from me!! The Pepper Queen!! Well not anymore!! Woohoo!!!
On Thanksgiving I was craving something spicy to munch on, since I filled my morning with tomorrow’s post that I didn’t know what to make. What could I have that would satisfy my craving? Then I remembered I had Pepper Jelly. I haven’t tried it yet, but I was afraid it was to hot, but I couldn’t leave it in the fridge untouched so I opened up the jar, smeared some cream cheese on my homemade Lavash Crackers and sprinkled the top with Pepper Jelly Jam. I took the first bite and I was in heaven!! I couldn’t believe how good it was! I missed out all week on it!! It was dam good, so good that I couldn’t stay away! I had jelly dripping on my shirt, on the counters, on the camera and now it’s on the keyboard! Well worth the stickiness !! It is unbelievably good!
I got the recipe for the Pepper Jelly Jam from Chris from Cafe Sucre Farine. If you’re a regular reader of mine, you know that I love Chris’s Blog. She makes the most wonderful dishes! I have tried a ton of her recipes and none have ever disappointed me. I honestly think she should open a Cafe and share all of her delicious recipes. But anyway, I went to make her recipe and as I was making my Jelly I realized I didn’t have all the ingredients. I’m not a good planner when it comes to things like this!! I see one ingredient and buy it and never pay attention to the rest, so silly of me! Maybe I should learn to print recipes instead of trying to remember them! Anyway, I didn’t have enough apple cider vinegar, no pectin and I couldn’t use all of that sugar. So I made do with what I had and what I got was a fabulous jelly!!
To substitute for the pectin, since I wasn’t canning my jelly, I decided to use a granny smith apple since an apple contains natural pectin. For the apple cider vinegar, I used some distilled vinegar, and added less sugar. I wasn’t sure if mine was going to turn out. I had quite a bit of liquid in my jelly. So when I placed the jelly in the jar I discarded some of the juice. I probably shouldn’t have done that because the juice is amazing!!!
The whole process probably took me about 45 minutes to make. Well worth the time! The jelly has a sweetness to it, yet it does have some heat, but not so much were you need to drink some water or get a stomach ache. It’s really perfect! When I tested it when I made it, it was truly to hot for me, that I added another sweet bell pepper to it to bring the heat down. Good choice on my part!! The jelly is so good that you could eat it straight from the jar. In one sitting I ate a 1/4 of the jar!! I could have ate more, if it wasn’t so close to dinner time!
I’m really glad that I made the jelly and I was so excited to share it with you, that on Thanksgiving Day I am writing this because I couldn’t wait to tell you and I wanted my emotions for the jelly to show. Sometimes when you try something new and you wait to share it, the enthusiasm isn’t there anymore. I had to be sure you knew how much I love it!!! If you want to check out Chris’s Jelly, which looks perfect, you can go to her blog Cafe Sucre Farine and find it there, along with her other wonderful recipes!! Tell Chris I said hello!
- 2 cups red bell pepper, seeded, chopped small
- ½ cup jalapeno, deseeded, membranes removed, chopped small
- 1 apple (75 grams), peeled, cored, sliced small
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup distilled vinegar
- 2 cup sugar
- In a sauce pan add all the ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes until it starts to thicken, stirring occasionally. Let cool, store in a jar in the refrigerator.
Now for this weeks weekly recap!
Monday: Jamming Away – This was my Jam making day! I made a wonderful Cranberry Orange Quick Jam which is simply amazing, along with my Cranberry Orange Cream Cheese Crostinis. Ahhh this was a good day for me!!
Tuesday: Lemon Rosemary Balsamic Roasted Chicken / Turkey Cooking Guidelines – The chicken was simply delicious. The marinade/dressing is delish and would go perfect on any kind of chicken dish you make!! trust me you will love it!! Try it on boneless chicken!!
Wednesday: Apple Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin – This was a big hit with my family and with a lot of readers. My Mom even called me to tell me she printed the recipe and couldn’t wait to try it!! It’s perfect for a quick night dinner and has so much flavor. I said it in Wednesdays post, but I’ll say it again, the sauce is plate licking clean!!
Thursday: Fall Crisp & Happy Thanksgiving – I love the crisp! I have been having it on top of my oatmeal for breakfast! It’s perfectly healthy and guilt-free!! Crisps are one of my all time favorite desserts! Nothing beats a dessert that you can have for breakfast too!!
Friday: Eggnog Latte and Frappuccino – This was highly requested from readers. So I whipped up some just for you, since I’m not an eggnog fan! My family gave it great reviews!! I will be making the latte for the rest of the season!
Saturday: Peanut Butter Cookie Granola – Dam this stuff is addicting! I love, love, love it!! I store it in the freezer to keep out of site! It’s hard to do! This is probably one of the best granola’s I have ever made!! If you like peanut butter cookies, then this is the granola for you!
Last week while my Husband and I were out on the town, you know going grocery shopping, I told him I would treat him to lunch at Panera Bread. I was asked by Daily Buzz and Panera Bread to test out one of their soups. Well I couldn’t turn that opportunity down since I eat Panera Bread like 3 times a week. I love their salads and soups. For the first time I tried their Broccoli and Cheese Soup and it was delicious! It was chock full of broccoli and the cheese was so creamy. It’s was thick and hearty and kept me full for the whole day!
I ordered it out of the Pick Two Menu, and my other side was the Chicken BBQ Salad. My Husband got the Chipotle Chicken with Bacon Panini sandwich! Him and his bacon! I have to admit I LOVE Panera Bread and I’m not just saying that because I was asked to test their soup. I love the variety they have and it makes for a healthy and quick lunch!! Sometimes I take my magazines and go there by myself to get away and enjoy my dinner in peace! If your interested in checking out Panera’s Soup menu you can go here. there is a lot of fun information and they even have a soup scrambler game! I made 4 soups in 34 seconds! Not a good score! You try to beat it!!
Well my Friends, I think I chewed your ear off long enough! It’s time for me to eat some dinner!
Have a great rest of the day!! Stay tuned for tomorrow, it’s going to be a good one, wink, wink!! 🙂
Toodles,
Jennifer
P.S. This weeks craving is Fresh Pasta with oven Roasted Tomatoes!
