Easiest Apple Jelly EVER!

From those three things pictured (and a little spice) you can get the EASIEST cinnamon apple jelly ever, I SWEAR IT! (Spice is optional of course :) ) No fruit to mess around with peeling and coring and dicing and washing and squishing, etc....Just need a little juice and sugar and pectin :)

Okay - a note on the ingredients here. The juice is KEY! It can be frozen, it can be in a bottle ready to drink BUT - IT NEEDS TO BE 100% APPLE JUICE NO SUGAR ADDED JUST THE JUICE! I dunno if other juices work, I can't tell you - I just know in this recipe what does work. I have heard, but never tried, grape juice, pomegranate juice, and a host of other juices will work...maybe I will experiment sometime...but for now, let's stick with apple juice.

Go ahead and get your jars and lids prepped and all (wash, heat up the water bath, etc...) This goes together FAST so before you even drag out the sugar and juice, get those jars prepped! You will need about 5 pint jars OR twice as many half pints.

Gather together: 1 can (12 oz usually) of frozen 100% apple juice
                          1 box (1.75 oz) of pectin
                          1 4lb bag of sugar
                          cinnamon (1/4 tsp) and nutmeg (1/8 tsp) OPTIONAL

A note here as well - the pectin I use is always just plain jane original pectin - I don't use the no sugar/low sugar stuff and I can't give any help with them. Sorry, I'm not that good, I LOVE my sugar LOL :)

Take your apple juice and add water like the can says - I usually buy store brand/generic and mind almost always ends up making 48 oz of juice. If going with the bottled ready to drink juice, shoot for 48 oz...

Once your juice is juice again, add your pectin and mix it up, add spices if you are going that route ( I love them, makes it taste like pie in a jar haha!), then bring to a rolling boil.  At that point, add your sugar, mix it up, and bring back up to a rolling boil and hold there for a minute (I usually let mine boil for closer to 5 minutes, but that's just me - I forget how long it's been as I am stirring).....here's where it gets a tad bit tricky...Don't forget! You CAN, if you want to, add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter if you want to cut down on foam...I usually do and I add it when I add the sugar....

Some people can use various methods of testing (plate in the freezer, cold spoon, etc) to test to see if it is "setting" - while all of these things are peachy great and work....you gotta keep something in mind here...I am more confident in my jams when I test the temperature they have reached.  See, the sugar makes them kind of like candy. Sure, when making candy at home you have all sorts of nifty tests you can do (usually involving cold water). BUT you can also take a temp a things and be fairly sure you will get the right end product. Jelly and jam are the same way.

I always check that mine have reached a temperature of 220 - 225 degrees...usually they go to the 225* mark...because, like I said, I forget how long I have been there most times. You want this to get that hot so the jelly and pectin and all "act right" later when they cool down. Trust me, you will see :)

Now, let it rest just a bit off of the heat - go ahead and pull your sterile, clean jars out of the water (if you are like me and boil them in the canner) or dishwasher or oven (wherever you stash them) and have your jar tongs, funnel, lid lifter and ladle ready.  Take a moment to skim off the foam IF you want to....let's be honest, the foam isn't the prettiest thing to look at on the top of the jelly in the jar, but leaving it there won't hurt anything either! Since this is just for us, and not a gift, the foam stays where the foam is :P But if you want, skim it off and ladle everything into your clean jars, I usually leave about 1/4 inch head space, wipe the rims, slap those lids and rings on and process at a full rolling boil for 15 minutes (I think some people do half pints for 10 minutes, but I usually do both size jars when doing jams and jellies and I time UP to the biggest jar).

Take it out and wait for the blessed "PINGS"!!!!

See...before I put the lids on, there really wasn't any ugly old foam that much anyways :P

A note - this jelly sets up BEST once it is opened and refridgerated! It will look a bit loose in the jars after a day - don't worry! Once it gets nice and cool a day or 2 later it looks even thicker and once you go to use it and pop it in the fridge it is about the consistency of jell-o. Nice and thick :) See....

That glob is the last of it from the pot I cooked it in....yes, I licked the spoon when I was done LOL...But it stuck very well just at room temp even to my finger for the photo shoot!

So...easy peasy! AND CHEAP! I paid $2 for sugar, $1.18 for the juice, $1.99 for the pectin and I'm not splitting hairs on the spices....that's $5.17 for 5 pints of jelly....or $1.03 per jar! Home made, ingredients I can pronounce, so corn products (like high fructose corn syrup....hmmmm...just saying) and freaking DELICIOUS! Unless were are talking questionable tasting 99cent store jelly....you can NOT beat the savings there! YUMMY too!

Jalapenos and Onions...Mmmmm YUMMY!

So, seriously, like the NEXT DAY after I wrote about wanting to can something, I stopped at the feed store and was GIFTED a giant bag of jalapenos! 2 1/2 pounds of them! He just had an abundance from his garden, so the owner (Mr. Stubbs) let me have a big bag for myself :) I also ended up with 4 1/5 pounds of yellow squash I traded another lady for (she wanted milk, was low on cash, and it worked for me...but the squash is another post lol)

I came home and got them washed and sliced....

DON'T FORGET YOUR GLOVES FOR THIS STEP! No really - you will thank me for reminding you!

While you are working on the slicing and dicing...it's a good idea to get your jars ready. Some people run them through the dishwasher...I'm not running the dishwasher for a half a rack of jars...so I wash mine well, then plop them into the canning pot to boil while I work. LIDS TOO! Don't forget your lids and rings :) Of course, I set those simmering in a smaller pot - that way they are easier to fish out when I am ready for them.

(The water isn't really ucky - that's my poor lighting and photography at play).

Now that your jars are ready, and your jalapenos are ready, you will need a brine to pickle them! This part is easy peasy. Takes a few minutes, and just basic cooking skills.  Okay, here goes:

Pickled Jalapeno Brine

one whole onion, quartered and sliced

(leave them kind of on the big side...for fishing out of the jar and eating later :) )

3 - 4 cloves of garlic, diced chunky 

1 tbsp oil (any kind, it's just enough to saute the onions and garlic)

7 cups 5% vinegar (can be white, or ACV or a blend)

1 cup water

4 tsp pickling salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp ground cumin

Saute your onions and garlic (use just enough oil so they don't stick to the pan - but not too much! You don't want a bunch of oil in this!) - now, this part is up to you, but I like mine to be about medium cooked. Not really carmelized, but not hard...I like the flavor it adds to the brine and jalapenos, but you can even skip all the seasonings if you want.  

Add the rest of the ingredients - ALL of them - and bring to a boil.  Allow to boil for one minute, just enough to get the flavors to start infusing together.

Okay - so now your brine is ready.  Let it cool just a bit, get your handy dandy jar funnel ready, pull your jars from their warm toast water bath (or oven, or dishwasher - however you keep them warm once sterile).  You are gonna start by packing them fairly full of jalapenos - not so tight you are squishing stuff in there, but tight enough....the peppers are gonna shrink up and wilt a bit when you add the hot brine!

Using your funnel, and a clean ladle, fill the jars about 2/3 full of brine - Now, I personally LIKE the bigger chunks of onions, so I make sure each jar gets a healthy dose of them :)  With this many jalapenos I start with about 5 pint jars....there will be peppers left over in your bowl! Now, when I get to the last jar, I go back to the first one, take a spoon, and kind of mash things down in there...adding more jalapenos to the top just about.  Repeat on down the line, then add more brine to each jar....repeat again....

With this batch I had 6 jars pretty well full of peppers and brine! You want about 1/4 inch of head space, wipe your rims clean, and place lids and rings on there just "finger tight". Then it's time to place in a boiling water bath for about 10 minutes, remove, let cool and wait for the "precious pings"!

***NOTE*** When making any brine, jelly, salsa, or high acid food be SURE to use a "non reactive" pot! Stainless steel, glass - NOT aluminum! Other wise the acid contents of the food will eat the metal off of the pot, deposit it in your food, and leave you with a ucky nasty flavor! Just saying....that's what I was always taught....

There they are...ready for their "water bath" :) Don't forget to take them out and allow them to rest undisturbed for about 24 hours, then check the lids to make sure everything sealed! Label those puppies...I mean peppers :) and get them put up!

Now we wait...as long as we can...but just a couple weeks really.  This allows them to "stew in their juices" as it were...once they have had time to set a bit, these will be AWESOME in fresh chevre, on omelets, on everything! I think we might make it one or 2 days more before we dive into a jar....I'll keep you posted!

In the Mood...For Canned Food.....

No, NOT spaghettio's! I'm thinking I want to start catching the veggies and fruits as they come on sale this summer and can some of them - jams, jellies, salsas, pickles...THAT kind of canned food!

I know, what about the garden??? Well...to date, the "garden" is 2 questionable may be a pumpkin, may be a squash plants....one is HUGE with lots of flowers, the other trails behind it in size and grandeur....neither do a real garden make. I warned you, gardening is just not my thing...maybe next season ok?

In the meantime, I am left with whatever comes on sale in the produce aisle....it's not so much about saving a ton of money...but about having healthier and better tasting options in my own pantry. With any luck, I will save some money too....not a ton, but enough to make it worth the effort...

So the question of the day is...what kind of jams and jellies and pickles do I want to make????

I'll think on it...and get back to you....