I’m just as busy as a bee today! My last post mentioned that I was going to start looking for ways to preserve the myriad of peppers that have been harvested so far and will be coming in rapidly in the future. It turns out that many of my reliable sources recommend merely freezing the cut up peppers rather than going thru the blanching process with them first. This was encouraging news since I have trays of large, California Wonder Peppers that look like this. 

They say that peppers keep in one’s refrigerator for about a week after harvest before starting to deteriorate. That says something about the peppers one buys at the grocery, doesn’t it! So, I’ll process my peppers for freezing so that they get the best use in the coming winter months, (and I’m sure you will be reading about that in the future) but in the meantime, I was struck by one of the labels of my many Heinz cider vinegar bottles which read, ‘Pepper Perfect’.

The partner bottle of white vinegar read, ‘Pickle Perfect’,

So I guess someone has a seasonal marketing goal at the Heinz Company since an older version of this same vinegar is advertising ‘Easter Egg Dyeing’ and the role that vinegar plays in that process!

Nonetheless, the label for Pepper Perfect Vinegar caught my eye and I spotted a recipe on the back side of the label for Hot Pepper Jelly. The recipe called for green peppers and jalapenos combined with other sweet and sour ingredients in order to make a type of jelly. I’ve eaten this jelly on top of cream cheese on a cracker and it is pretty tasty, but I’ve never made the jelly until today. My mother agreed that she likes this pepper jelly served as an appetizer so what better endorsement than one from your mother? I confirmed that the Heinz recipe is similar to others one can easily find so I decided to follow the instructions from the cleverly marketed Heinz people.

So, here goes. Diced green peppers with Jalapenos……

Add vinegar, Sure Gel and cook until it boils and this is the result.

Then add some sugar and honey. This honey came from my Uncle Bill who lives in South Carolina. He gave it to my mom and she has shared it with me here. I’m sure he will be glad that it has found a good use!

Boil the heck out of it as directed

and you get a mess on the stove top! Sorry in advance, Joyce!

But here are the results after processing the little jars!

I resisted the suggestion of adding food coloring, (either green or red) to the jars since I’m a natural kind of gal. If I weren’t, I guess I wouldn’t have grey hair and wrinkles to show for all my years of experiences!