Hot Pepper Jam

Our all-time favorite appetizer is Homemade Hot Pepper Jam over softened cream cheese. Serve with thin pretzels or other cracker of choice.  It is a wonderful blend of heat and sweet. 

Personally, I use a mix of jalapenos and hot cherry peppers for a beautiful mix of colors.  If it is early in the season and the peppers aren't as hot as I like, I have also added in several cayenne peppers for a little added heat.  

My jar of choice is the 1/2 size (4oz) jelly jar.  It is the perfect ratio:  one full jar to one block of cream cheese.  These jars are also given out on Christmas or other occasions as our take-home gift to guests. 

Hot Pepper Jam

Adapted from the Ball Pectin recipe:     yield: 12-4oz, or 6-8oz jelly jars

Use Gloves!
Another caution: rinse/wash all peppers before you cut them.  Do not rinse after cut.
4c. Fresh-picked, Prepared (finely chopped) hot peppers, seeds discarded*
    *I use a mix of Jalapeno and Hot Cherry, I keep in a few seeds from each pepper, and chop using a small food processor - to finally measure a full 4c. prepared peppers 
1c. cider vinegar
5c. sugar (do not substitute)
Pectin - 6 Tb. from bulk jar (or 1 box) Original/Classic

1.  PREPARE boiling water canner, jars and lids.  Measure out all ingredients.

2.  COMBINE prepared peppers with vinegar in a 6-8qt saucepan (you need the large surface area).  Gradually stir in Ball Original/Classic Fruit Pectin.  Optional: Add up to 1/2 tsp butter to reduce foaming.  Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over hight heat, stirring constantly.

3.  ADD entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve.  Return mixture to a full rolling boil.  Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Skim foam if necessary.

4.  LADLE hot jam into hot jars, one at a time, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Clean rim and threads of jars using a clean, damp cloth to remove any residue.

5.  CENTER hot lids on jars, allowing sealing compound to come in contact with the jar rim.  Apply bands and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.

6.  PLACE filled jars in canner.  Be sure water covers tops of jars by 1-2 inches.  Add hot water if necessary.  Place lid on canner. Bring water to a gentle, steady boil.

7.  PROCESS jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude (refer to chart in pectin).  After processing is complete, turn off heat and remove lid.  Let jars stand for 5 minutes.

8.  REMOVE jars from canner and set upright on a towel to cool, undisturbed, for 12-24 hours.  Bands should not be retightened as this may interfere with the sealing process.  After cooling, test seals by pressing the center of each lid.  If a lid does not flex up and down, it is sealed!  If it is not sealed within 24 hours, refrigerate immediatedly for up to 3 weeks or reprocess for the full length of time using a new lid.  

9.  CLEAN sealed jars.  Remove the bands.  Wipe jars and lids with a clean, damp cloth.  Label and store in a cool, dry, dark place up to 1 year.

I make several batches of this jam every year so in addition to labeling with the year, I indicate the batch number as well using inconspicuous "dots", abc, 123, or the like.  Each batch will turn out with a slightly different "hotness" level.  I keep track and use accordingly (eg: the hottest batch is noted and saved for "special" occasions). 

Do you have a favorite variation of hot pepper jam?

Garden Experiments

Edibles everywhere. That was my goal for this year.  If I wanted color in a garden, I looked for an edible that would fit the bill.  I am sure there is much more out there, but it is a start.  Everything was started from seed.  

The experiments for the year:

• Tri-color pole beans on one trellis with rattlesnake and purple pole beans on the other.  To be picked young for eating. Question: How with they look and will my family eat them?

Experimental pole beans - color? taste?

• Scarlet runner beans were added to the edges of both of those trellises as a border of color.  These were purchased for the flower color and then, hopefully, dry and eat the beans as well.
• The scarlet runner beans were also added to two trellises in a focal garden on the side of the house
• Ruby Swiss Chard was added along the front edge of another garden to add a nice contrast of color to the rock border.  Picked small, chard is very tender and cooks up and tastes like spinach.
• Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are on two focal trellises to climb and add a pop of red and green. 
• Red Sails lettuce was placed along the front border of my little pond on the north side of the house - hoping it will last longer there with some shade and coolness; it is a pretty contrast of color to all the green there as well.

• 

  Lettuce surrounds front border of pond

• An assortment of hot peppers were grouped along south-facing brick wall.  They are supposed to like it hot, and that is the hottest spot of the yard.  They are also a red fruit which will be a pretty pop.
• Parsley and basil line a garden path.
• The biggest project was the addition of two 4x12 raised beds built within the confines of the old swingset area.  These are planted completely in vegetables.

Watch for a post on the creation of these beds

The remainder of the vegetable and flower gardens are pretty much status quo.  I have several dedicated garden beds, both raised and "in the ground".  I also have a patch of garden surrounded by the driveway which is predominately perennials but I plant my jalapenos along the perimeter there for the heat.  Along one of my fences, I plant a few tomatoes in buried pots filled with compost; they are trained along the fence for support. A whiskey barrel next to the house has an early tomato and 4 Swiss chard.

Keep picking the chard to keep it small and producing

Tomato Planting

With Mother's Day just behind me, the "usual time" everything should be in the ground, I find there is still a lot to do - our spring has taken a couple of extra weeks to get here this year.  I did manage to get the last of the tomatoes in the ground just yesterday.  My final count was 30.   

Here is the breakdown:  3 "Super Sweet 100" cherry tomatoes, 2 "early" determinates "Oregon Spring", 2 "early" indeterminates "Bloody Butcher", 5 "San Marzano" Italian heirloom, 2 Brandywine Red, 2 "Porterhouse" large beefsteak, and the rest are our favorite and all-time best producer "Supersteak."  The remaider of all those started were gifted, and a few were taken to the garden "swap" night.  

I have them planted in several different areas of the yard/garden. (Photos to come in later post.)  One of the Bloody Butchers is in a whiskey barrel right outside of my window - in a little micro-climate there and is where I have historically gotten my first ripe tomato.  Fingers crossed.  

Four are placed in the rear raised beds with a bucket "collar" to add soil depth and collect a little more water for their root zone.  These are caged.   Three more are planted along the fence, with the fence as their trellis; two cherry tomatoes are in a raised bed with a large trellis to be trained against; three more are planted in my new raised bed;  three alongside the porch; and thirteen in the front "ground garden."  

What do I do with all of them?  Well, so far, I have never had a year where "too many" was in my vocabulary.  Our family of 6 (plus regular guests) eat our weight in BLTs during the summer.  Fresh tomato slices alongside morning eggs, grilled cheese and tomato, fresh garden soups, shish-kabobs are all summer staple dishes.  Tomato juice is my personal favorite, and store-bought is too expensive and too salty for my liking, so I can several batches that way.  This year I hope to increase my production of simply canned tomatoes since I realized the family has taken a liking to more winter soups.

Note:  Putting them in the ground, I plant "deep" after removing the lower couple of leaves.  Once again, roots will form along the buried stem, forming a larger root zone as well as getting them deeper to help reach for moisture during the dry spells.