This dark cherry jalapeno jelly is amazing. Sweet/Spicy – so good!
My Aunt Bea made pepper jelly for Christmas gifts every year when I was growing up. The popular thing to do was to pour some of the jelly over cream cheese and use it as a spread on crackers. Back when I was a kid I was such a picky eater ā the thought of eating cream cheese made me throw up in my mouth a little, and my Aunt Bea made the jelly green so you could see the red pepper flakes. I never ate any of it growing up!
Since I was given my deluxe canner I realized there is no excuse not to make my own jelly. But I wanted to do something a bit different. I though of making a cranberry jalapeno jelly, but would you believe even after Thanksgiving I could not find frozen cranberries. WTF? But I did find frozen dark cherries. Huh. I figured, why not?
- 2 jalapenos with seeds
- 12 oz. package frozen dried cherries
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 8 cups sugar
- 2 packages pectin, cooked according to instructions
- Prepare canner, jars and lids.
- Place peppers and dark cherries in a food processor. Process until fairly well chopped.
- Put mixture into a large pot and add the sugar, mix well.
- Bring mixture to a roiling boil, stirring frequently.
- Once roiling boil is reached, let boil for 1 minute.
- Temporarily remove from heat and add the liquid pectin, stir.
- Return to heat and bring back to a roiling boil, boil for 1 minute.
- Stir in apple cider vinegar.
- Remove from heat and skim off any foam.
- Fill hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.
- Remove air bubbles, wipe rims and affix lids.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (or use my deluxe canner if you have it!)
- Remove from canner and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours.
This dark cherry jalapeno jelly will be going into my out of town gift baskets. It has the perfect balance of sweet and heat ā you obviously taste the sweet first with 8 cups of sugar, but then the heat kind of creeps up on you. I sent some to my cousin and his wife, and his wife sent me a message on Facebook saying that they ate almost one whole jar in the first sitting ā winning!
I ended up getting a short walk in before work. Even if itās just 15 minutes, just being out in the fresh air puts such a positive spin on the day right off the bat.
My daughter in law Lizz loves snowmen as much as I do, so every day so far this December Iāve sent her a picture of a snowman, whether itās one of my coffee mugs, etc.
Yep, holiday snowman earrings! I actually love them and will probably wear them every other day until Christmas.
My leftover steak from the night before morphed into this delicious potato roll steak sammie ā this whole plate is just under 400 calories!
I ended up having to go to Marianoās to pick up stuff to bake last night, so my only walking was around the store. Once I had gotten all my ingredients though, I still got my walk on and walked up and down the aisles for about 10 minutes. I am sure if there was surveillance cameras they would look and wonder what the hell I was doing. Oh nothing ā just getting my steps in is all!
So it was Day 2 of my Bizzy workout ā holy balls thatās a lot of squats! I did the lower number on this sheet ā but still after doing four rounds of these exercises, my quads were on fire at the end. This workout took me just over 50 minutes to complete.
As I was leaving to come home I kicked myself for not having my swim suit ā I would have been the only one in the pool!
So guess what I ate for dinner?
I had my baking pants on and had no time to make a proper meal, but this plate was delish. I kept noshing on it in between baking my cookies.
The last picture photo credit goes to Hannah. Sheās literally picked up my DSLR and takes better pics than me! I need to take lessons from her. Those cookies are for my office luncheon on Friday. Iāll make more to send to the out of town boxes on Saturday so they can all be shipped off on Monday. Here is the link to the second cookie – it uses cake mix in the dough!
And here is a cute pic of Roman ā I swear heās the cutest dog and I canāt get mad at him when he pees on the kitchen floor with this face!
That leaves me 20 minutes to shower, pack my gym bag, put my food together and make my coffee ā no problem Make it a great day!
Let me know if you make this dark cherry jalapeno jelly!
p.s. if you want a simple fruit sauce, try my Very Berry Sauce – ready in five minutes!
How many jars, and what size?
Hi Sabrina! This made 8 1/2 pint jars of jelly.
Oh wow Roman, what an adorable cute picture.
That jam sounds fabulous! And that Roman would still my heart! Glad you are doing well!
It is really good Abbe – I still want to do it the cranberries because I think the color will be brighter, but perfect balance of sweet and savory š
Best way to get frozen cranberries is to freeze them yourself. I usually buy a couple extra bags of the fresh ones when they are on sale this time of year. Just throw the whole bag into the freezer!
Duh, I never would have thought of that! Thanks Helen š
Haha – I am curious as to what your legs will feel like tomorrow! š
Let’s just say I am feeling muscles I haven’t felt in a long time Lori š I got the soap in the mail yesterday – they smell amazing!! Thank you š
That jelly looks delicious!!!! I made jelly once. From jalapenos from our garden. They didn’t work the first time (too runny) but I was able to fix them and it was perfect.
I remember that jelly – I just love the sweet/spicy combo š
The recipe calls for apple cider vinegar but doesn’t say when to add it. Could you explain that process please?
So sorry! I added it to the list – add it right before skimming off the top after the second boil. Sorry about that!
That jelly looks fab, as does your dinner.
That is a lot of squats! I’m in a squat/pushup/crunch/plank challenge this month. But wouldn’t you know it, I’m sick again (3rd time in 3 weeks, this time in my chest). So I’m not doing much and I haven’t been in the pool in a month!! I miss it!
But I definitely cannot swim with a head/chest cold. Hopefully I can make it to the pool next Tuesday. For sure I’m not going to earn my free Tshirt at the YMCA this year (if you go to the gym 12 times between Dec1 and Dec24). Well it’s the 9th and I haven’t been once.
I saw that on Facebook that you are sick again – boo!! I have a bit of a head cold, woke up with a sore throat, but took an Advil cold gel and feel much better. I walked at lunch and will still hit the gym for upper body – thankfully tomorrow is a rest day š
I don’t know, Roman has that “I’m cute, I know it, and I can get away with murder” look on his face, LOL!
So true! š
Oh no you can get mad at him but it is the cuteness that saves him from the scolding. We have a twelve year old cat that thinks he is a kitten. He is always getting into something or causing trouble of some sort. You go to yell at him and plops down in front of you and does this amazing look at me aren’t I the cutest thing roll and gives you “puppy dog eyes.” Mmm.. the jelly sounds like a great combination.
I know, every time I try to get mad and tell him “Roman, don’t pee on my floors!” he gives me that puppy dog look and I end up picking him up and hugging him! Um, I shouldn’t be giving him positive reinforcement š