Recipe: Pepper Jelly

Title: Pepper Jelly
Categories: Toppings, Spices/etc., Hot, Preserve
Yield: 6 servings

3 1/2 c Sugar 1/2 c Hot pepper slices
1 c Cider vinegar 1 Packet (1/2 bottle) Certo
3/4 c Sweet pepper slices -liquid pectin

Simmer sugar, vinegar and peppers very slowly for 10 minutes stirring to be
sure all sugar is well dissolved. Turn off heat and let stand for 30
minutes. Bring to a boil and add Certo. Boil 1 minute. Cool and stir with
non-metal spoon 5 minutes. Check that it comes of the spoon in a ribbon or
sheet. If not, cook it a bit more. Pour into jars and seal, or pour into
freezer containers and freeze (that's what I do).

Note: the peppers are seeded and sliced 1/4 inch thick with a knife or on a
mandoline, for a marmalade effect. I like to use red and yellow peppers for
color, or all green. Mixing red and green isn't as pretty as you might
think it would be, as it makes the jelly browner. I have substituted home
made pectin, which seems to work fine, if it is the same consistency as the
Certo. It just tends to be pinker. I make that by boiling apple skins and
cores in as little water as possible, with a lid on, and then cooling it
and pressing the juice out through a sieve and saving it in a bottle in the
fridge till I have enough. How much is enough? About a cup of the home made
pectin, as I recall. If the stuff doesn't jell right I save it in the
fridge, then later add more pectin and more sugar and cook it until it
sheets right. --Helen Fleischer