Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

The peppers produced in prolific proportions this year.  We have eaten them raw, sliced and pickled.  We have made Atomic Alligator Eggs with them.  This is where you core the jalapenos out, stuff them with cheese, roll 'em in breakfast sausage, shape them like eggs and grill them on the bbq pit.  That is my favorite way to eat them.  To make them extra tasty, you can roll them in bacon prior to rolling in the breakfast sausage.

I'll show below how we made Jalapeno Pepper Jelly.  This is so easy that a cave man could do it, really.  This post is a little heavy on pictures.  You'll need the following:

• About 1 1/2 cups of red, yellow, orange bell peppers seeded and chopped up fine
• About 1 1/2 cups of green bell peppers seeded and chopped up fine
• About 1 cup of jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped up fine
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 package of SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin
• 1/2 tsp.  butter
• 5 cups  sugar, (I know, I know, but it is jelly we're making!) 

 First, you want to seed all of your peppers.  I use a good sharp knife for the job.



Seeding the red, yellow, orange and green peppers



Seeding the jalapenos



Then you want to put them in the food processor and chop them up real fine.  First the pretty, multicolored peppers: 

 

Multicolored peppers



And then the jalapenos.  Just chop them up real good for a while.



Ready to chop up

And here's the consistency you are aiming for with the multicolored peppers and the jalapenos:

Dump all of the chopped peppers into a big pot and add your cup of cider vinegar:



Nice colors in the pot

 Next add the package of Sure Jell fruit pectin to the mixure in your pot.

Turn the heat on high and keep stirring until you bring it to a boil.  Look at those nice colors below in my pot.  And man, you oughtta smell it!

An explosion of colors and flavor!

Now you'll add 5 cups of sugar and keep stirring for a minute while it is at a full, rolling boil.

A lot of sugar, I know.

Keep stirring

  

It's ready!


At this point get your jars, lids and rings lined up with a canning funnel and pour this hot, spicy, sweet elixir into your half pint jars.  Fill them to within 1/8 inch of the top and put your lids and rings on tight.

Putting lids and tightening the rings


Put them in a water bath ensuring that the jars are covered by 1 to 2 inches of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes.  Pull them out and put on a cooling rack to cool.  You'll hear the lids snap when they seal.



Allow to cool on the rack



 The best thing to do is to serve this as an appetizer before a festive meal or snack during a football game.  Open a package of cream cheese and spoon out a bunch of your jalapeno pepper jelly on top and eat with a cracker.  It is an easy, delicous thing to throw together!