Sunflowers & Sweet Tea

Hi Friends,

Well, I've been cranking out the canning kitchen again this week.  It's been jalapeno jelly and tomato week around here.  Thanks to Carol and Bob W. for the wonderful peppers - they are sa-mokin' HOT!  But oh so good!

I tried two recipes for the Pepper Jelly this time...one made kind of a pepper butter (that sounds strange doesn't it) and the other made beautiful jelly! 

The first doesn't use packaged pectin - rather you use Granny Smith apples. -- Basically you boil 4 pounds of apples, 1 big bell pepper, and 5 or 6 hot peppers in a pot of water, a little vinegar and a touch of salt until the apples are soft.  Then you strain it either through cheesecloth or just in a strainer if you want some of the pulp in there and then put the juice/pulp mixture back in the boiler.  Add 7/8 cup sugar per cup of juice and boil till thickened or at 220 degrees.  It takes FOREVER!  But what turned out was really tasty.  It's not jelled like traditional pepper jelly, but has a good flavor and a little bit of "heat" from the peppers.  I added a little red food coloring just to enhance it and I think it will be a pretty addition to cream cheese or maybe even over some grilled meat (fish, pork, chicken) at some point.  Might even be a good ham glaze too....I'll get creative and let you know - or you can let me know.  It was a recipe off of http://www.allrecipes.com/  -- I adapted it a little bit for my own taste because I firmly believe that recipes are just suggestions!  :)

The other one turned out so pretty.  For this recipe I chopped up about 10 jalepenos, I left the seeds in because I LOVE hot pepper jelly.  Put them in the food processor and grind them coarsely.  Then I added about 6 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups white vinegar to the boiler.  The recipe called for ground red pepper (cayenne) - but I had fresh so I just dropped about 12 whole cayenne peppers in the boiler along with the rest.  Brought it to boil and let roll until it got to 220 degrees.  Added the liquid pectin and stirred and brought back to boil for 5 minutes.  Added about 3 drops of green food coloring to this mixture.  It's so pretty!! It's a pale clear mint green and it looks like confetti with the seeds (stayed white) and the flecks of green peper and then I dropped 1 whole red pepper down in each jar for added color...so festive!  OLE'!!  

Tomorrow I'll finish up with one last round of salsa...and maybe one more batch of pepper jelly -- it's so pretty I can't resist!  :)

I think I'm a canning addict! 

I went to see "The Help" this past Sunday afternoon with my beautiful friend, Ginger.  We laughed, cried, got mad and got entertained -- it's a great movie.  One of the trailors shows a scene with Abilene and Little Mae in her nursery and Abilene looks at Little Mae and says, "Remember this - you is good, you is kind, you is important."  And Little Mae says it with her (she's about 2 or 3).  I'm not going to spoil the movie by telling you why that's such a great line, but for anyone who feels unappreciated, unloved, unworthy or insignificant, these words are so encouraging.  And this beautiful little girl needed just that reminder and it would carry her throughout her life even though we aren't told of her adult life in this movie.

Are there people in your life who encourage you?  Are there people who would miss you if you were gone?  Are there people who pray for you even when they don't know what to pray?  Are you one of those people to someone else? 

My other post for this week talked about how mean this world can be at times.  We need people who encourage us and they need us to do the same.  Sometimes we get swallowed up by our circumstances, challenges, stresses, and people who drain us beyond hope.  Sometimes we feel isolated and alone and as if we have no one to turn to...

But God teaches us in His Word that He will never leave or forsake us.  He tells us that He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  He tells us that "all people have sinned and fallen short of God's glory."  He tells us that He loved us so much that He gave His only Son - to die, and live again so that we may have life everlasting."  He says, He came so that we may have life more abundantly than we can hope for or imagine."  In other words, He tells us - We is good, We is kind, We is important -- not because of what we have done but because of His Son who is perfectly good, perfectly kind and the most important...

I hope that I'm a person who makes others feel good, kind and important.  I posted that line on my profile on Faceback and was brought to tears with the kind words spoken to me by my friends.  We never need to get too busy to remind people that they are important to us.  We never need to get so high tech that we can't communicate a real hug, a kiss on the cheek or a grasp of a hand to someone who needs it most.

Thank you my dear friends for reminding me that I am good, I am kind and I am important - not of myself - but because of Christ who lives within me...

I'll post Jelly pictures...just you wait -- you're gonna love 'em!

You is good, You is kind, You is important...to me...I love you!  Amy