Candied Jalapeno's

1 Gallon Canned Jalapenos
Hot Peppers - whole for color
1 1/2 cups Tarragon Vinegar
4-6 Cups Sugar

 Place the Jalapenos and Hot Peppers in Canning jars or refrigerator dishes.   Bring the Vinegar and Sugar to a boil and pour over drained Jalapenos and hot peppers.  Either can these or store in refrigerator.
Candied jalapenos are so delicious on so many things.   I really love them with cream cheese and crackers~  Yum!

Teacher Treats

How about a quick gift idea for the people who invest so much into your kids?
This week I made "puppy chow" as we call it. It's yummy and addicting! However it makes nearly a whole cereal box full and we dont need that much candy around here. I just wanted one bite honest!


Several years in a row I purchased a daily desk calendar by Mary Englebreit. I could not throw out her beautiful artwork that was on each page so I have been recycling these into little cards for quite a few years!

"Books Fall Open, You Fall In" is perfect for the reading teacher!
I placed about two cups of candy into the cellophane bags. Put on the silver twisty tie it came with...Went to the ribbon box and found a nice sturdy wired type (hoping it holds it shape after my first grader carries it in). Tied a bow. Then I selected my cards with a teacher theme and wrote Happy January on the back! I punched a little hole in the corner and threaded a tiny ribbon through it to fasten it on to the package. These cards could even have said "thank God it's Friday!" there doesn't have to be an occasion to give. Just do it and make someone feel special!

Aunt Viki's Sweet Pickles

I have been meaning to post this for some time now.  This is my Aunt's recipe for the most amazing sweet pickle you have ever put in your mouth!  These are the pickles that I love to eat with Chili.  I know that pickles are a summer thing - but its always winter when Im craving them.  I am going to post this now while I am wishing I had a jar in my pantry to go with the Chili on my winter menu!

7 lbs Cucumbers
2 cups of pickling lime
1/2 gallon of vinegar
8 cups of sugar
1 Tablespoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of Cloves
1 Tablespoon of Celery Seed
1 Tablespoon of All Spice

Mix 2 cups of pickling lime with 2 gallons of water, pour over sliced cucumbers.  Soak 24 hours - stirring often.  Pour off, and Rinse the cucumbers VERY GOOD 4 or 5 times if necessary.  Let the cucumbers set in ice water for three hours.  Drain Well.
Mix Vinegar, Sugar, and Salt.  Pour over the cucumber slices and soak for 6-24 hours (longer for convenience).  Cook until transparent and only gently stir them.  Pour into jars and cap off.  As with any canning make sure that before you put the lids on,  the top of the rim is wiped off with a scalding hot cloth.  This will ensure that you have a great seal and that there isn't any pickle juice or sweet syrup hindering that! 
Once you place the rings on - give these jars a 10-15 minute hot water boil bath.   Your jars will seal as they cool and you will have pickles in the summer and the winter - depending on how quickly you eat them and if you share them! :) This recipe will make about 12 pints.
I say this is an AWESOME Christmas gift idea, because they are a labor of love, but not hard to do.  I received them in my stocking a few years ago and it was probably one of my favorite gifts!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

 These cookies are a large, chewy, yet crunchy treat.  Packaged beautifully they would make a great gift! They are delicious and special!  My husband is a self proclaimed research nerd, and he is the one who dug out this recipe.  He received Cook's Illustrated for his birthday from my Mom last year which sent him running to the library to find back issues.  Their test kitchen's will make 175 batches of cookies to find the perfect one, and my sweetheart agrees that this is the perfect chocolate chip cookie! 

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teas. baking soda
14 Tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teas. salt
2 teas. vanilla
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2.Heat 10 Tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes.(Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter; the dark color of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is browned.) Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl.  Stir remaining 4 Tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated.  Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds.  Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds.  Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.  Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute.  Stir in Chocolate chips and nuts, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 equal portions, each about 3 Tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop).  Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (smaller baking sheets can be used, but require 3 batches.)

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until the cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.  Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool.  Cool completely before serving.

Apple Butter

OK...here it is!  This is from a little lady we always stayed with  in Goshen, Indiana on choir tour. Her Apple butter rivals Cracker Barrel's and Silver Dollar City's.  It is my favorite, and I am picky about my apple butter!  She just bought apple sauce at the store, & it doesn't matter if it's a major brand or not.  She washes the jars that it comes in...yep, you heard me...and puts it right back into those same jars!  With those same lids!! And they seal.  They really do!  (And if they don't, well...those are the jars that you stick in the refrigerator and eat!   We rarely ever have one that doesn't seal.  You just wash the jars, and have them good and hot, (I put them in the oven for a few minutes on a cookie sheet tray, this gets them to the temp. that they need to be, plus it sanitizes them too.)

4   50oz. jars of apple sauce
5   lbs. brown sugar
3  tbs. cinnamon
1  tbs. cloves
1 1/2  cups apple cider vinegar

Put these ingredients in a large roaster pan.
Stir well, and bake in 350 degree oven for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
Put into hot clean jars, and top with the lids that you have cleaned, and warmed in a pan of hot water. 
Close tightly, and leave sitting on a towel, out of drafts.  When they cool, they should seal. (you know, the tops will sink down in the middle.) Just make sure that you do not touch the middle of the lid while they are
trying to seal...you want to REALLY know that they have sealed on their own, and you cannot know
that If you've poked it down yourself!   
Easy, Easy, Easy!

You can make these pretty by washing off the labels (you might need some Goof Off) and you can tie a pretty ribbon around the top.  You also can put this apple butter in regular canning jars that are cleaned and prepared the same way.
I got the notion a couple of years ago after tasting Williams Sanoma's Pumpkin butter, that it could also
be made the same way, with canned pumpkin, adjusting the spices (adding ginger to the mix), and
tasting it to adjust the flavors before it was baked.  I haven't tried it as of yet, but I know it could be
done!  And man, wouldn't that be good?????  

Strawberry Freezer Jam

 Strawberry Freezer Jam is another example of something that is so simple yet amazingly delicious.  I suggest you put this on your Hungry Momma French Toast!  My Mother in Law gave me this recipe and I have been making it for years! The first thought of Freezer Jam intimidated me, but now knowing how simple this is - ANYONE can make and enjoy this!

Ok - catch this because if you blink you may miss how easy it is....

I use frozen strawberries (I can get about one batch per bag)

Make sure that your strawberries are completely defrosted.
Smash berries!
Mix Together:
2 cups berries
4 cups of sugar

Bring to a boil and stir at boiling stage - 1 minute:
1 box of sure jel
3/4 cup of water
Mix the hot sure-jel in with the sugared berries and stir for 3 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Pour into your containers -and wait 24 hours before freezing - or enjoy in the fridge up to three weeks - if it last that long!

Because these are made with Strawberries from the Freezer section you can make this delicious treat any time of the year - and it always taste like July!!

This is also a wonderful Gift Idea!  Just let your friends or family know to put it in the freezer if they don't plan on using it right away.  More than likely they are barely going to walk out your door without sticking their finger in it!

Pepper Jelly

Have you ever had Pepper Jelly Poured over Cream cheese served with Wheat Thins at a Party?  Most everyone I meet always has.  It is a super quick appetizer for time with friends. However, I love pepper jelly on so many different things, I decided to learn how to make it myself.  Pepper jelly was the first jelly I ever made. In our very first tiny apartment and I used a teeny tiny food processor that you would possibly only use for baby food or something.  I should have borrowed my Mothers. Oh Well!  I made memories in the process. 

The next time you get your hands on some (hopefully you will try this recipe) try this on a fried egg, and toast!  It is delicious.  Or as my Grandmother White would say - "Fick Tish and Fosh Tosh!"  It was supposed to mean delicious in her vocabulary but Lord only knows - she made up so many phrases and words! 

Pepper Jelly:

3 jalapeno peppers

4 bell peppers (Red and Orange make the prettiest Jelly)

1 cup white vinegar

1 bottle of liquid pectin (I have substituted a box of the powdered kind before and it works as well)

5 cups of sugar

Run peppers through food processor using fine blade.  Use all the juice.  Slowly boil all ingredients for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add liquid pectin and boil hard 1 minute.  Pour into 1/2 pint sterilized jars within a half inch from the top.  Making sure there isn't any jelly drips on the rim, screw on the caps and band firmly tight.  Process these in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.  

Remove from the Hot Water Bath and set on the counter to cool.  

Yield 6 pint jars

I double this batch because I like to have plenty to give away!

Candied Almonds

These almonds are something that Momma makes alot around the holidays! These are a great treat packaged up cute for teachers or could be packaged as party favors.  We used keep them in a cookie jar when I was a teenager and they would go about as fast as cookies seemed to!

6 Cups of Almonds
1/4 cup of Oil
2/3 cup of white Karo syrup

1. Heat Karo and Oil in microwave until warm enough to stir together.
2. Pour over Almonds in your cooking tray (like a rimmed cookie sheet) and stir until all are coated. 
3. Bake at 275 - 300 for 45 - 60 minutes *continually stirring them  every 15 minutes.