Jalapeno Jappiness

Never have we ever had luck growing jalapenos.  Until this year.  The bushes are loaded.  Which made me wonder:  what are we going to do with all those jalapenos?  I looked around the internet for ideas, and discovered that jalapeno jelly is a versatile item to have in the pantry.  So . . . . . 23 jars later  . . . .  I'm here to report that yesterday I made jalapeno jelly.  The above photo shows where I started:  with a whole heckofalotta jalapenos.  Even after I picked these, there are still a lot left on the plants.

I made three batches, and each batch called for this many jalapenos (which is 3/4 pound).  I wore gloves when I seeded them, but the bigger problem was the jalapeno fragrance (if that's what you call it) in the air.  While cutting and seeding all these peppers, I had to clean the seeds off the cutting board often, because I could feel "it" in my lungs, and "it" wasn't a good feeling.

The recipe was simple.  I pureed the jalapenos with some apple cider vinegar and it made this green foamy concoction.  From there it went into a pot with more vinegar and untold amounts of sugar (you don't want to know how much) and some liquid pectin.  After that, it was into the jars to process in the hot water bath.

The end result was 23 jars of jalapeno jelly.  Most of my jars are small like this, but there are also a few larger jars.  I'm told it's nice as a spread on crackers, and also poured over a block of cream cheese to spread over crackers.  Yesterday I also made peach salsa.  (No photos of that, though.)  I hope everything tastes good, because it's a lot of work.  But it was also lots of fun to do it.  I believe that ends my canning career for this year.  The rest of our excess will continue to go into the freezer.