I BET YOU THOUGHT I FORGOT...

I told y'all that I would post the link to the recipe for jalapeno pepper jelly that I used. And, being a woman of my word, here it is:

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly Recipe 

Super yummy and super easy! 

The main variation that I made in making this recipe is that I used all of my cooked pepper mixture to fill my jars and I didn't strain it.  Thus, my recipe made 12 half-pint jars rather than the 6 specified in the recipe.  Note: I did not double the recipe.

I used a ratio of 4 whole peppers in my first batch and 7 whole peppers in my second batch. I haven't tasted that one yet. 

As I said before, I didn't think the first batch was spicy, so you may want to experiment with the level of heat you like. 

I'll report how "hot" the second one turned out, and you can use that as a gauge, but honestly, it may simply come down to a personal "heat" preference and making a few batches of your own.  You can't go wrong. 

Enjoy!

SWEETNESS

Graces shares her family's fondness for Slurpees.  A girl after my own heart.  Nothing better on a hot day than an ice cold Slurpee.  Unless it's a photo of my sweet granddaughter with a Slurpee.

I know this next photo isn't in clear focus (at all), but it fits along the lines of sweetness, so I am sharing it anyway.  A sent me this photo from her phone and said that Grace insisted on wearing her pink knitted cap to the grocery store yesterday, so she took a pic and sent it to me.  I think it is adorable.

Have a sweet Monday!

NEVER TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

I made another batch of Jalapeno Jelly yesterday.  This time I increased the ratio of whole jalapenos to seeded ones to raise the heat in this recipe.  I also added some red food coloring to it, so I could determine which was which.

Here is a photo my finished product of both recipes

We opened one of jars from the first batch yesterday and I served it over some cream cheese on crackers.  While the flavor was YUMMY, it had very little heat. Mild, which, to me translates into b-o-r-i-n-g.

But that's just me.  Not everyone is a fan of food with hot, spicy flavors. However, because I love (and crave) spicy food, I think the next batch will make my taste buds much happier. 

I have some more flowers on my plants, so I have my fingers crossed that I will get enough Jalapenos to make one more batch before the end of the season. 

I am planning to really turn up the heat on that batch and see how it turns out.  Maybe, before I do that, I should try this second batch?

Nah....I think I'll live dangerously and just go for it.

LILY

Bruce and I attended a beautiful wedding in Julian Thursday night. D and J were married at the Pine Hills Lodge.  D is in the Navy and recently returned from his first deployment to Afghanistan.  It was such a lovely ceremony and reception.

The setting was a late afternoon wedding inside the Lodge and the entire room was candlelit and warm. I loved the Mason jars placed on each table and filled with flowers while smaller jars holding candles were placed everywhere around the Lodge.

Lily was the flower girl. She is three years old and the the bride, J's adorable niece.  She stood quietly during the entire ceremony watching intently and smiling the entire time.  

After the wedding ceremony, while everyone waited for the reception to begin, I was sitting at a table that had a large woven checkerboard and was set up with over sized checkers.  I was people watching and sipping a glass of wine.

Lily approached me and asked, "Are you playing a game?"

"No" I replied, "Would you like to play?"

"Sure!" she chirped and slid into the chair across from me.

"Do you know how to play checkers?" I asked her.

"Yep! " (such confidence for a three year old)  I was surprised she knew how to play, but what do I know? It's been forever since I had a three year old at home.  Kids are more advanced today.

She settled into the chair and looked at the board and began turning all of her checkers over to put the crown side down.  I'm thinking at this point, she really does know how to play.  I'm in trouble.  It's been forever since I played checkers. Is it like riding a bike?  I hope so.

I let her take the first turn.  She lifted a checker from the back row of her side of the board and carried it all the way over my side of the board diagonally across from one of my checkers.  Uh oh. 

I jumped her checker and took it.  She furrowed her eyebrows into a scowl. Uh oh.  But she grinned as soon as I showed her that she could do the same thing with my checker and she was lightning fast when she snatched my checker up in her little hand.  Glee all the way!

Then, she kept taking my checkers, one by one. It was clear she didn't know the rules of the game as she sailed her checkers over to an open spot on my side of the board, but I couldn't risk seeing her scowl again.  It was so intimidating. (It was actually very cute, but I thought intimidating was a better word for this story). 

Okay, so with Lily winning, I was thinking, 'we're good'.  We continued taking turns for a few more moves and I let her take a few more of my checkers.

It became clear that I was off my game and obviously was not enough of a challenging player for Lily, because she suddenly looked up at me and with a big smile said, "I'm all done here, have a great day!"

And off the chair she hopped and skipped off.

For the rest of the night, Lily kept referring to me as 'her friend 'and after dinner, came over to my table, grabbed my hand and led me out to dance with her (and three others girls she rounded up) for the song "Love Shack". 

Lily took control of the dance floor and performed tiny ballerina leaps across the floor and around all of us. It was late for Lily.  And me, for that matter, but I digress.  Lily was keeping the party spirit alive for everyone.  There was no slowing her down.

I'll party with Lily any time.  She is my kind of party girl. 

JALAPENO JELLY

Given that it is feeling so much like autumn here in San Diego, I have been getting into my homemaking mode. 

And since my jalapeno plants have been going crazy producing gorgeous, green, spicy peppers, I decided to try my hand at making some jalapeno jelly this morning. 

I found two recipes that caught my eye and sounded easy enough for a cautious beginner.  After reading through both of them about a fifty times (well, at least 10 times), I decided to go with the first one I had come across.  The author actually lives here in San Diego, too.

I used a yellow and orange pepper as my two additional pepper choices to go with the 9 jalapenos I plucked off our plants this morning.

Right now my jars of jelly are cooling and my house smells like peppers! Because I prefer chunky jalapeno jelly and I chose to use most of the pepper mixture rather than straining most of it out like the recipe suggested, my recipe actually made 12 half-pint jars of jelly.

I didn't add any food coloring to mine this time, but if this batch turns out good, I will make some more for Christmas gifts and add red food coloring to that batch.

I will update with another post when we try our jelly and let you all know how it turns out and then I will post the link to the recipe for anyone who wants to try their hand at jalapeno jelly.

Making jalapeno jelly was super easy and only took about an hour total time to make. 

I think the hardest part for me is going to be leaving the jars alone to cool for 12 hours.