Canning Night

We had so many jalapenos and I was not sure what to really do with them. My husband loves Jalapeno Jam, so today I got what we needed to make him a small batch- new lids and pectin. We had everything else. I could not believe how simple it was! Took 12 peppers ( I think we had 14) cut them up, you don't have to seed them, then puree with 1 cup of cider vinegar. Then you put in a pan add another cup of cider vinegar and 6 Cups of Sugar- stirring constantly bring it to a boil. Continue to stir while it is boiling for 10 minutes. Then you stir in 2 pouches of pectin, continue to stir for one minute, add to your heated jars, leave 1/4 in headspace and screw on band. Make sure you have wiped the sides of the jar around the rim though. You can add food coloring if you want to, but we don't. I think it is plenty dark and a more natural color. You boil them for ten minutes with a lid on- make sure your water covers the jars, then wait five minutes and pull them out. Make sure you hear/feel the pop and you are set to just put it on the shelf. If for some reason the jar does not seal- sometimes this takes a while just stick it in the fridge, it will be fine in there a couple of weeks.

We made some great Blueberry Jam too, it takes 4 1/2 cups of fruit for the jam, and we only had 4 so we added half of cup of strawberries- let me tell you it smelled and tasted so good. I was a little thankful that we had some leftover so I could sample it tonight. I was even able to freeze to pints of salsa and have one quart in the freezer. It was a nice day of cooking and preparing.