Hotter than Hades Pepper Jelly

I'm ready to cry uncle with the Cayenne peppers.  I've picked and picked and STILL there are blossoms on that plant!

I've dried a ton and turned them into crushed pepper flakes.  But we just don't eat a lot of hot things, so I am at my wits end.  I decided the only way to get rid of a ton of these at once is to make Cayenne Pepper Jelly.

This recipe caught my eye, so I gave it a whirl.  Only I refused to waste the time seeding all the peppers when I wasn't even going to eat any of it, anyway.  So I left them all in and decided to call it "Hotter than Hades".

I weighed out 12 ounces of Cayenne peppers, but basically it was enough to fill the food processor.

Pour in 1 cup of cider vinegar and process.

Transfer to a large saucepan and add another cup of cider vinegar and 6 cups of sugar. 

Bring to a boil and, stirring constantly, boil for 10 minutes.

Add two packets of liquid pectin and return to a rolling boil for one minute.

Transfer to jars and process in a boiling water bath.

This stuff is HOT.  As in, I tried a teeny little bit with no seeds and it had quite the kick.  I decided to let all the seeds float to the top, so that whoever ends up with these can spoon them off if they want.  Another way to reduce the heat is to mix some in with Raspberry or Strawberry jam, and then serve over cream cheese with crackers.  I actually had a commercially-made raspberry hot pepper jelly and it was really good, so don't think I'm crazy!

The batch made 7 pints and one is for Dad for Christmas (he's the only one I know who will eat anything this hot!).  The rest will be used for bartering!

Hot Pepper Jelly

So remember those peppers I mentioned before?

The ones that are producing way faster than I can use them?

Today I decided to try a new Hot Pepper Jelly (HPJ) recipe.  I am a huge fan of HPJ over cream cheese served with crackers.  It's a very easy, yet delicious, appetizer.  With the holidays coming up, I wanted to make sure I had a good stash in the pantry (and also, I'm not convinced we're growing the Jalapenos next year, so just in case I need to make as much as I can!)

The last batch I made called for only jalapenos and liquid pectin.  It gelled up almost too well, and it was mostly sweet, there was no kick AT ALL to it, so I knew it wasn't going to be my 'go-to' recipe.
I found THIS RECIPE this morning and decided to go for it, since it called for the boxed pectin AND a variety of peppers (I think the red and green will be really festive for Christmas.)

I don't know what I was thinking, but I decided to chop them all by hand.  Next time, remind me to throw them in the food processor.  If you're doing this at home, make sure you wear gloves.  Those peppers can leave lasting side effects if you don't (it's a mistake I only made once and never again since!)

I ended up using a little less than 3 cups of chopped jalapenos, two chopped cayenne, and about 1 cup of chopped red pepper.  I seeded them, too, because I figured it would be hot enough as it is with the cayenne.

Add 1 cup of cider vinegar in a large sauce pan, along with a box of pectin.

Bring to a rapid boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add in 5 cups of sugar and return to a boil.  Let it go for one minute, then remove from heat.

Place in jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  (Check to make sure they've sealed and all that good stuff.)

All of the peppers will float to the top, which is fine by me.  But I'd read that if you turn the jars every 20 minutes or so while they cool, the peppers will be more evenly distributed.  So I decided to give it a whirl.

This batch definitely has a kick to it, but that's MY opinion and I don't really like spicy things.  It isn't too hot, though, so I think this recipe might be a keeper.

Rose Petal Jelly

Until a few weeks ago, I'd never heard of making jelly from rose petals.  Then someone posted a picture of beautiful pink Rose Petal Jelly on Pinterest and I was intrigued.  Since we have more than a dozen Knock-Out Roses in our yard, I figured I HAD to try it.

Here's how:

You want about 2 cups of petals.  For me, that was 2 dozen roses.  Every place I saw online said red or pink roses.  I don't know why not white or yellow, but I wasn't going to argue.

Select the new, pretty blossoms (like on the left, not the right) and make sure they haven't been treated with any pesticides!!! 

Take the petals off and wash them good, making sure to get any foreign objects out of there.

Cut off the white bottoms of the petals.  They are bitter.  I found it was easier to snip them with kitchen shears than trying to chop them off with a knife.

Add the petals, along with 2-1/4 cups of water, to a glass or stainless saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cover, and remove from heat.  Let it steep for awhile... overnight (or 2 nights, as the case may be!). 

You will notice the roses lose most of their color.  Squeeze all of the liquid out of the petals.  You want as much of the infusion as you can get.  Discard (or compost) the petals.

Add 1/4 cup of lemon juice and notice how bright the liquid becomes!

Stir in one box of pectin and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add in 4 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve.  Return to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and fill your jars.  Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

What results are beautiful jars of jelly.  This picture makes them look orangey but they are a bright shade of pink.  The taste is hard to describe, but it's wonderful.

I confess I was thinking about getting rid of some of the rosebushes to make room for some butterfly-attracting plants, but now I think they are going to stay!  I only wish I'd started sooner, as the blooming season is quickly coming to an end.  But on the other hand, that means I can try Rose Hip Jam!!!