Jalapeno Jelly

What you will need:

3/4 lb. jalapeno peppers
2 cups cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin
a few drops green food coloring (optional)
cheese cloth*
pint sized canning jars

Wash, remove stems, cores and seeds from peppers.
In blender or food processor, puree the peppers with 1 cup vinegar. Transfer mixture to a large pot. Add remaining 1 cup vinegar and sugar. Heat to boiling and continue to boil for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add pectin and continue cooking, bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly for another minute. Remove from heat and skim any foam which accumulates at the top. Remove and discard pulp by squeezing it through a cheese cloth. * Add food coloring, if using.

While the jelly is still hot, ladle it into pint sized canning jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. Screw on lids and adjust. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from canner and cool in a draft free place.

*Note: Make sure you use gloves if you do what I did, see below.

Admin Notes: I tried to make jalapeno jelly once on the 4th of July, 2005. It was my first attempt at canning of any sort and I really didn't know much about anything. Well I went to the store and purchased all the ingredients. If I remember correctly I came home with like 20 jalapenos. I cut the peppers in half to remove the seeds without gloves, my hands didn't feel bad, but if I touched any sensitive body parts they burned like hell fire. Had to use the bathroom, should have worn gloves. When it came time to remove the pulp from the mixture I didn't quite know how use a cheese cloth so I scooped it into the cloth and wrung the liquid out. Of course it was hot because it had just come off the stove but I grit my teeth and kept going as the liquid pepper/vinegar mixture ran over my hands.

When I was done and had ladled the jelly into the jars and processed them I let them cool only to find out that I had not used enough pectin, so I had made jalapeno syrup instead. I was a bit disappointed but I used it as a dip for egg rolls, it was pretty darn good.

Later that day, as we celebrated Independence Day, I was playing Right Field my glove hand started burning like crazy, I couldn't figure out why. I took the glove off and ran down to the brook and dipped my hand in, it was pure Heaven on earth. Of course that didn't help, for when I removed my hand from the water it would burn even more. It wasn't long before both hands were on fire. It lasted through out the night. That was my first and worst 4th of July ever (I am a Canadian citizen/US Permanent Resident). I slept with a bucket of ice at my side and a large fan on my chest with my hands perched up in front of it. I described to my wife that it felt like my hands were in hell. Needless to say, lesson learned. Wear gloves when dealing with hot peppers.