Christmas gifts

That sounds like a very good recipe Pat, thank you for posting it.
Josephine.

THANKS for the RECIPE, PAT.

Now, here are all my newbie questions!

I've never canned anything before, and I'm about to buy the Ball Blue Book of Canning and Preserving, for more detailed instructions.

On the fly though, do I just buy the jars and sterilize them in a water bath (for how long?), remove them with sterilized tongs and fill them with the jelly mixture? Where should I sit the jars when I remove them from the water bath, and should I let them cool off first before filling? Finally, I'm going to guess that if I buy new jars they'll come with the gummed sealing lids and the screw rings, right? Now do they get sterilized in the water bath, too? I'm thinking yes, Linda -- why half-sterilize, duh!!!??

Oh, and I've heard something about metal spoons, and aluminum spoons, testing with magnets, etc. Can I use a metal spoon or should I go with aluminum to spoon the mixture? Use a Funnel? Metal or Plastic?

So many questions!!!

Just pray for this NEWBIE. Actually, this is something I can do for the holidays, since I can buy the jalapenos right now! Thanks!

Chill, gymgirl! ;)

The Ball book will answer all your questions. Canning takes some time, but it's simple and you can really get into it. If you're not super-confident of what you've done, just refrigerate it! It'll be all right. I promise.

I hope you have a gas stove, and not an electric one.

Yeah, right. A GAS stove in TEXAS??!!!!

It's taken me over 22 years to deal with electric stoves in Houston, and I STILL hate them! I grew up in New Orleans, the home of the "Beautiful Blue Flame!"

Our SD has gas everything but the AC and lights and water. The gas water heater is in the ATTIC! I changed out our perfectly good gas range for a duel fuel range: gas cook top and electric oven. Love that thing!
(Sorry to hijack - but had to deal w/that electric vs gas bidness.)

Ann

Duel Fuel. HMMMMMMMMM. That could be a beautiful thing to behold!

Gas here too. It must be different in Houston, but at least 90% of the homes around the Dallas area have natural gas, but some homeowners do choose electric stoves. Our last home was like that and if we would have stayed any longer, we would have put in a gas stove top.

Now, we have a dual oven too. The only way to go!

I was gifted a Collin Street Bakery fruit cake for my birthday. I love fruite cake (not everybody does); Collin Street Bakery is the best fruitcake I've had.

Other gift thoughts:
There are companies that ship tamales out of state. Tamales can be an acquired taste for northerners.

Last Christmas, I shipped some Texas wines to friends (Texas liberated their wine shipping rules last year)
Be sure to check on state wine gifting/shipping regulations prior to purchase. Spicewood Vineyard wines were very well received.

Texas BBQ sauce and salsa are other gifts that would be appreciated (decent salsa and BBQ sauce are not so readily available up north). There are so many good Texas BBQ sauces and salsas.
Ana's salsa is really good. Check out www.anasfoods.com. You live in Victoria, close to Lockhart and Luling. There are so many good BBQ sauces in that area.

Anybody know where I can get a fruitcake with nuts and spirits only? Not fond of the fruits...

Gymgirl-
I think you'll be happy with rum cakes. They are just cake, nuts, and rum (no fruit)
Here is a link http://www.tortugarums.com/

Collincountytx,

I forgot about those. Brought some back from the honeymoon cruise. Not quite fruitcake cake, but I'll reconsider. Thanks for the link!

I am boiling jars out in the kitchen to make jalapeno jelly, and in here searching for Patrob's recipe...which is DELETED!!! Too funny! I have waxed paper on the counter, 'cause I started out to make sugared pecans. That was postponed because I didn't have enough sugar. Then I remembered that I bought all the stuff to do jelly....so....all I needed was the recipe...... I'm going to change clothes and go to the mall............bet my car's out of gas with my luck today!

Bubbles,
I owed you one. Here it is!

PATROB'S JALAPENO JELLY RECIPE!

Here's the pepper jelly recipe that we use. (You can make it hotter or milder by changing the amounts of mild and hot peppers as long as the total is one cup.)

3/4 cup finely chopped bell peppers (add some red for color if you wish)
1/4 cup finely chopped hot peppers
16 oz bottle Certo (CAN NOT substitute powdered product like Sure Jell . I tried once and it was a dismal failure.)
6 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar

Bring peppers, sugar, and vinegar to a rolling boil. Cook one minute, stirring to prevent boiling over. Remove from heat and add Certo, stirring in well. Let set for five minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Yield: 3 pints or 6 half-pints.

Gymgirl......NOW you tell me!!!! I have a box of two pouches of Certo...both 3 oz. I did find a recipe in a Southern Living cookbook that called for two 3 oz pkgs of Certo...so I'm gonna try it tonite. Appreciate you fwding the recipe, but I couldn't find Certo in a 16 oz bottle (and that stuff goes bad if you don't use it, anyway). We had blackberry bushes at our lake place for yrs and I'd make jelly and jam. One yr, it didn't jell. Was told the Sure-Jell had expired. Who knew?? I need a lot of sugar for both recipes...pepper jelly and sugared pecans......going to busy this evening.
Thanks again for sending along the recipe. It sure sounded perfect for the neighbors for the Holidays..... if it doesn't work...I'll give 'em each a canned ham!!!

Sorry, but I deleted the recipe, which was years old, when I realized there had to be an error on the amount of Certo. I discovered a good recipe in the Certo package that we bought last week, but our pepper jelly made with that Certo and recipe still has not set. I think we may have bought Certo too close to its expiration date, or DH did not measure his peppers as carefully as necessary. The "product" is making awfully good sauce, however. A block of softened cream cheese with this pepper jelly sauce poured over it would make a very good appetizer.

Ooo, Pat, that actually sounds really good! Now I'm hungry. LOL

PATROB,
So, is this recipe above good or not? I saved it to my recipe file. Please let me know before I try to make it, as I'm a newbie!

I used the recipe in Sou Liv cookbook and it came out great. I substituted canned jalapenos (1 1/2 C) that I minced in food processor. Didn't take very long to make, but oh, what a mess I had to clean up on the counter. The ingredients are nearly identical to Pat's except for the amount of Certo, so I'll pass them along....Thanks again Pat for motivating me to make this. My Yankee husband loves it and he doesn't like anything hot usually. The stuff in the grocery just isn't the same.

1 1/2 C minced green pepper
1/2 C minced hot green pepper
7 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 C vinegar (5% acidity)
2 (3 oz) pkgs liquid pectin..

Combine first 4 ingred; bring to boil and boil 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in pectin; boil for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and skim off foam with metal spoon.
Quickly pour hot jelly into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process in boiling-water bath 5 minutes. Yield: 7 half pints.

Wow. I could actually do this over the weekend, huh? Even without tomatoes....

By Green pepper do you mean green BELL peppers, or green HOT peppers?

What brand of liquid pectin do ya'll use in this? And sterilizing my jars means boiling them and the lids and screw caps and letting them stay in the hot water til I"m ready to fill them?

Actually --- I think I'll refer to my new BALL BLUE BOOK OF CANNING AND PRESERVING for this answer...

(use a Gilda Radner voice here: "Never mind...") Except about the peppers and pectin. Ooooooooooooh, say that fast 5 times! "Peppers and pectin!" "Peppers and pectin!"

Do as I say....not as I do....Gymgirl! The recipe is nearly verbatim from the cookbook.
I, on the other hand, only used a can of jalapenos...no fresh stuff, no bell pepper. I sterilized the jars (just the glass jars) last night....but our neighbors, who are leaving town dropped in, so I had to let the jars cool on a towel on counter. I covered 'em with another towel when company left .....Too late to start jelly. This afternoon, I put a pot on to boil water for the filled jars. Then I cooked the minced peppers, sugar, and vinegar. The pectin I added was Certo....box with two packets, each 3 oz. I filled the jars, wiped the edges, and then dumped them into boiling pot for 5 minutes. Having only successfully made freezer jams with blackberries before ...the boiling filled jars part was new to me.... but I figured I could do anything for 5 minutes. The only time I made pepper jelly before, it was a miserable failure...but I used Sure-Jell..so that may have something to do with it...that, and not always following the recipe..... If I do it again, and I think I will...I'd add minced red bell pepper for a little extra color. The canned peppers had some carrot, so there was a bit of color, but the red would have made it more festive.
Took me longer to write this than it took to make the jelly.........hmmmmmmmmm

Robert's pepper jelly from the 1970's was perfect. The recipe I shared and then deleted was copied from a family cookbook, and a sister-in-law had sent it to a cousin, etc. The Certo amount does not match the way Certo is packaged today. We are experimenting with pepper jelly again. So far not perfect, but we are still trying.

Ok Bubbles,
I think I can can -- I think I can can -- I think I can can!

But I still don't know if green peppers are bell peppers or not. And, I agree with using some red bell peppers if that's what we're referring to. Please let me know before the weekend. I'll try this then.

Also, you don't put the lids and seals in the boiling water at all?

And would someone explain head room? I think I understand, but tell me if I'm wrong here:

1/4" of headroom would be the space between the very top of the jelly (or whatever's in the jar) to the lid, right?

Bubbles,
Thanks for putting this process into perspective. I felt much more confident when you said "I figured I could do anything for 5 minutes!"

I think "green peppers" means bell...and "hot peppers" means jalapeno. No I didn't put the lids or seals in boiling water......might not want to eat jelly at my house, huh? I just remember reading to boil the glass jars.....And the 1/4" headroom is correct....the sealer then fits tight. Oh, and we ate some last night.....and we're not poisoned yet....so it must be okay.....but I guess if I was going to share it, or store it for a long time...I'd read more about sterilizing!

I can't wait to meet you at one of these RU thingies! You're gonna be such fun. And, please remember to bring me a jar of something that's not poisonous! I promise to eat whatever it is!

I'm sorry....I had to go to a garden club Xmas party this morning, and had way too much sugar! Made me silly. But I do know a whole lot about the bald eagles that are nesting up by Llano now. I almost sneaked out before the speakers, but I'm glad I stayed. It was really interesting.....or maybe it was the suger....or worse...delayed reaction to jelly poisoning.
I do hope to go to the next RU. Just couldn't work it in this Nov. I'll look forward to meeting you too.

Gymgirl, if you put the lids in boiling water for a short time and keep them in the hot water till needed, they will make a better seal because the rubber will be soft and will make better contact with the jar.
Of course you will need a pair of tongs to pull them out of the water with, because it will be too hot to handle.
They also make another tool to take the jars out of the boiling water with, I think it is called jar tongs, but i am not sure. If you go to the canning section at the store you will find a lot of these tools, they make the job a lot easier.
Josephine.

Thank you all.

I GOT MY ALL AMERICAN 21-1/2 QT. PRESSURE CANNER ON eBay night before last! It'll can 19 pints at a time! I am sooooooooooooooooooooo excited. And, thanks Frostweed, I'll order the lid lifter (the magnet on a stick). Hmmmmmm, I'm hungry all of a sudden.....

Anyway, ya'll don't know me, but I'm the newbie who's gonna grow veggies for the first time next growing season in March, guided by all my veggie-growing DGer friends, in potting mix that people are gonna give me as Christmas gifts, in 5 EBs I have just received, following suggestions from all my DGer friends. Now, these EBs are gonna be placed in the backyard where DH just told me they will not be placed cause he doesn't want his grass dug up in the one sunny spot in the whole yard. And.... after I grow all these veggies by fighting off the DH, the bugs and pests, the squirrels, one possum and a racoon, an army of killer mosquitoes, and the dreaded TOMATO HORNWORM (that I've been told to let live ESPECIALLY if it's loaded with the disgusting wasp larvae), I will then can my butt off using my new Pressure Canner, the "Ball Blue Book," and the "Putting Food By" book that my canning and preserving DGer friends have suggested.

Then, I will retire to my prayer chamber to offer indulgences that no one should die from fatal botulism...

Ya'll also need to know that I am truly a self-made woman!


tee hee hee!