Megans Cookin » preserves

Cheddar Thumbprints with Pepper Jelly

Megan — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:38:22 +0000

Jam and cheese together, have always been a winning combo in my book. And I already knew that Cheddar Shortbread was delicious! In fact, I mentioned them in my post, titled Five Star Appetizers!
These Cheddar shortbread cookies are an easy appetizer that only has 3 ingredients, Cheddar, butter, and flour. Now add a forth ingredient, pepper jelly, and you’ll have just taken Cheddar Shortbread to a whole new level. These are brilliant!

I needed an appetizer that would go with a Mexican themed dinner, but it needed to be able to travel a few hours. I didn’t want to bake anything or do any reheating. So when I found these Pepper Jelly Cookies over at Michelle’s blog, Big Black Dog, I knew I had hit gold! Pepper Jelly Gold!

I received some homemade pepper jelly for Christmas last year and I was waiting for something special to use it on. These were that special!

In fact, you better double the recipe. I’m just warning ya!

These WILL be made again, and again, and again.

Worthy of any special day.

In fact, I now want to make my own liquid gold (pepper jelly) this summer, just for these cookies. Plus you can use the leftover jelly for many things, including My Killer Sandwich!

Cheddar Thumbprint Cookies with Pepper Jelly

Recipe found at Big Black Dog

2 cups Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 stick (6 TBSP) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup flour
1/3 cup hot pepper jelly

Place cheese and butter in a food processor (could be creamed by hand or mixer); add flour and process until the mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up the dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes. (You really don’t need to chill the dough)

Preheat to 400°.

Using 1 teaspoon dough for each, roll the dough into small balls and place 1 inch apart on parchment lined sheets. Bake 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, (A small spoon worked for me) poke an indentation in each cookie. Place 1/4 teaspoon of the jelly in each indentation, or enough to fill.
Return to the oven and bake, switching the positions of the sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking, until the tops are very lightly browned, about 10 minutes. (Cookies will continue to crisp as they cool.) Transfer to racks and cool completely. Recipe makes about 20 cookies.

Can be baked up to two days ahead. Store at room temperature in an airtight container and separate layers with wax paper.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Lemony Peach Jam With Just A Hint Of Basil

Megan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:39:00 +0000

I just got back from vacation and only have a week
(actually,.. less now)

before school starts, which means

back to work for me.

Someone has to feed those kiddos!

Anyway, I signed up for a jam exchange and it was always in the back of my mind

all through vacation.

Gotta get some jam made.
Gotta get some jam made.

I’m glad to report, I got some jam made!

And boy, am I happy with the outcome!

I found some peaches at the supermarket on sale for 98 cents a pound.
They were nice and ripe and begging me to turn them into jam.
I wanted to make my Vanilla Spiced Peach Jam that I made last summer because it was so stinking good,
but I also wanted to try something new.

I was thinking of thyme or lavender, but opted for basil in my peach jam. As any good food blogger would do, I did a little goggling and came across this recipe. So I adapted it to my taste and came up with this tantalizing treat.

I Gotta get some MORE jam made!

This stuff is terrific.

Lemony Peach Jam with Basil
5 cups of peeled sliced peaches
1/4 cup water
4 Cups sugar
juice and zest from 1 lemon
5 fresh basil sprigs
Cook peaches and and water for 10 minutes.
Add the sugar, lemon, and basil.
Cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mash with a fruit or potato masher while boiling. . Continue to stir increasingly as fruit cooks. When fruit starts to seem to adhere to pan bottom between stirrings, the jam is ready to can. Remove basil stems and leaves, and can as usual.

I got 4 half pint jars and little bit extra that I ate on toast!

Seedless Chocolate Raspberry Dessert Sauce

Megan — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:56:00 +0000

I went to Costco a couple of weeks ago and saw these lovely berries. I threw a crate into my shopping cart dreaming of the breakfasts I would have in the coming week. When I got home, to my surprise and stupidity, there were 6 baskets of fruit instead of the 3 I was thinking of. But that turned out to be a good thing because I had just came across a recipe from Charlotte at Canning Jars Etc

Chocolate Raspberry Sauce!

I’ve used it on ice cream,

In my Daring Baker Frangipane Tart challenge,

As a plating decoration for my Molten Chocolate cakes
(I know know, sloppy plating. I was hurting by this time)

and I’ve used it at as a gift, or actually… a give away prize.

I only got 5 jars instead of the usual 8 jars because I strained my mixture. I decided at the last minute I didn’t like it with seeds. This produces a wonderful fruity sauce with a hint of chocolate. Perfect for many things. But the truth be told, I want to make another batch for gifts. I love making homemade goodies to give at the Christmas season. Much more personal and let’s face it, cheaper and funner!

Chocolate Raspberry Sauce

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
5 cups crushed raspberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
7 cups sugar

Combine the first 4 ingredients. Bring to boil over high heat. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary. Strain seeds. Fill hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process 10 minutes in a water bath.

High altitude instructions
1,001 – 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 – 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 – 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 – 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes

Enjoy!

Spiked Pumpkin Butter For Christmas

Megan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:29:00 +0000

A room for a Princess!

(That chest was painted white to match. It is undergoing a makeover again!)

What a difference a few years makes!

Last weekend, the Hubby spent the days painting Kellie’s room. This picture was taken after we started packing up the room. You’ll notice the shelves are cleaned off and the metal structure where those purple cubes go are gone.

Time to take this room up a notch to a more teen friendly room!

It hasn’t been painted in about 10 years. I had it all in Disney Princess theme for when she was small. Doesn’t seem that long ago. It’s hard to let go of that room, that time, that period.

Now those purple walls are just a memory.

And a post.

Welcome to the new, grown up version of the same room. We are all so pleased with the results. Kellie was having second thoughts about the color. When we went to buy the paint, she was scared that the colors would be to bright. The Hubby finished up the trim and the touch ups,

so
Kellie can move back into her room.

Yeaaa!

Now we can work on all the crap she packed up and weed thru it.

My little girl is growing up.

Another thing I did a couple of weekends ago, was to make Pumpkin Butter. Another addition to the homemade preserves that I’ll be making for my Christmas Baskets.

I found this recipe over at Polka Dot Moon and knew I must try it. This was an easy recipe using canned pumpkin. I was all over that recipe. I’m all for homemade but I’m also *for easy*.

I had to double this recipe because I messed up. I added WAY TO MUCH cloves. Two teaspoons instead of 1/2 teaspoon. Even when I tried to fixed it buy doubling the recipe,
it still has a strong presence of cloves.
But I like cloves, and my taste testers seem to like cloves.

Oh yea, and I gave it a…

nice swig of Grand Marnier.

That helped to offset the cloves.

This stuff is pretty tasty and perfect for a Christmas gift on it’s own.

Are you making anything for Christmas presents this year?

Pumpkin Butter
adapted from

Polka dot Moon

1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin puree
3/4 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
swig of Grand Marnier

DIRECTIONS
Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices, and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently.
Place in (or jars) plastic containers and refrigerate or freeze.

Enjoy!

I Got Jam! And A Little Hint!

Megan — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Look what I got. A package in the mail! It’s my jam from the Jammin Jelly Exchange that is being hosted by Molly of Batter Splattered. And the timing is perfect. Because I’m gonna slather some jam on my bagel in the morning in celebration of my birthday. Yep, tomorrow is my birthday.

And look, I got two jars of jam from Mary of Shazam In The Kitchen. How sweet is she? You only had to send one jar but she couldn’t find a small box for one jar, soo… she sent me two. Yea for me!!! She sent Plum Ginger and Peach. I cant wait to dig in. But first, I must go buy some bagels. And a candle!

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A Little Hint: Stop by tomorrow for a little birthday giveaway.

Garlic Jelly

Megan — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:22:00 +0000

When I heard Carla from Chocolate Moosey was

hosting Weekend Cookbook Challenge,

I knew I was in.

The theme is garlic and it’s suppose to be the main event.

Not just a clove or two of garlic thrown in some little dish but it is meant to be center stage.

You know what I mean?

Well…

It didn’t take much thinking for me to figure out what I was gonna do.

Garlic Jelly!!!

Here’s my set up. I have the larger pot for keeping the jars hot and then I use it again to boil my jars for processing. The small sauce pan has hot water and my lids in it. The medium sauce pan is where I’m making the jam. Oh, and the jar lifter is there in the middle. See it?

Jelly after processing

In this recipe, you simmer the garlic in vinegar for 15 minutes,

then you let it seep for 24 to 36 hours.

Well…

let me tell you…

that stuff stunk the house up so bad, that Hubby and I couldn’t sleep.

The second night wasn’t so bad, but… that first night…

WHOOWEE, STINKY!

Here’s the jam in the kitchen window so you can see that pretty color. Well,… that pretty artificial color. I use a tad bit of orange food coloring to get that Autumn color.

For the recipe, you press the garlic out of the vinegar you just simmered and then used the flavored vinegar basically as the fruit in the recipe. Add your sugar, pectin, water and cook it up. Pour jelly into the warm jars, put them back in their bath and boil for 10 minutes. Easy Peasy!

Looking past the jam, this is my view out the kitchen window.

The beginning of my maple tree is starting to lose her leaves.

This jelly was a pleasant surprise. Despite the overwelming stinch that first night,

this jelly was pretty mild. It’s great with cream cheese over crackers for the holidays

(which really is just around the corners)

or makes a great little gift.

I’m brushing it on grilled chicken!

Happy Fall Ya All!

Garlic Jelly
found at Recipezaar

Ingredients
1/2 cup fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 cups white wine vinegar
5 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups water
1 (2 ounce) package dry pectin
1/4 teaspoon butter or oil
2 drops food coloring (optional)

Directions

1Combine garlic& vinegar in a 2 qt.
kettle.
Simmer mixture gently, uncovered, over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Remove pan from heat& pour mixture into a 1 quart glass jar.
Cover& let stand at room temperature for 24-36 hours.
Pour flavored vinegar through a wire strainer into a bowl, pressing the garlic with the back of a spoon to squeeze out liquid.
Discard any residue.
Measure the liquid& add vinegar, if needed, to make 1 cup.
Measure sugar into a dry bowl.
0Combine the garlic-vinegar solution& the water in a 5 or 6 quart kettle.
Add pectin, stirring well.
over high heat, bring mixture to boil, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.
Add sugar,& stir well.
Bring mixture to a full, rolling boil.
Add butter to reduce foaming.
Continue stirring.
Boil the mixture hard for exactly 2 minutes.
Remove pan from heat& skim off any foam.
Add red, yellow or orange food coloring if desired.
Pour jelly into prepared glasses.
Seal according to directions on recipe folder in pectin package.

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More Jam Recipes
Vanilla Spiced Peach Jam
Chocolate Strawberry Jam

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Life is full of little surprises!

Megan — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:01:00 +0000

I feel like it’s Christmas around here! Today has been full of wonderful little surprises.

First, I took my daughter to Kohl’s to get some new shorts. It hit over 100 degrees here and that means shorts! I got a coupon with my Kohl’s bill and it was for an extra 30 percent off. I read it and I reread it. It was 30 percent of the total purchase. Sale, clearance, and regular prices. Nothing was excluded from what I saw. Soooo…

I finally got my Kitchen Aid!!!
$90.00 off the sale price. How could I not get it. I mean, really. And just in time to make my Daring Bakers challenge. How exciting for me! I truly believe ever DBer should have a KA.

Check it out. My sexy new shining chrome KA.
That baby will get some miles put on it.

Then coming home, I drive by the postbox and notice that the key to the box for packages is gone. Hmmm, could that key be in my mailbox?

So I unload my treasures and run to the mailbox.

Yahoo, a package for me!

Remember when I entered my Chili Verde with Sope recipe in the Tamale Open? The one that was hosted by Coco of Coco Cooks and Ben from What’s cooking.

Well, I won. I receive this great Indian Soft Hammered Spice Box and 8 spice blends.
(Tandoori,
dried Thai Chilies,
Sansho seven spice blend,
Himalayan Pink Salt,
Quatre Epices,
Ras-El Hanout,
Chipolte Chili Powder,
and Panch Phoran).

Wow, what a package!
Check out the Tamale Open round-up at Coco Cooks.

In addition to my prize, Courtney sent me some of her fresh made canned goods.She sent me a wonderful looking Apricot Cherry Preserves with Vanilla Bean and a jar of her Watermelon Rind Preserves aka Glamah Rinds. You’ll have to go read the story behind the Glamah Rinds.

A big, giant Thank You to Courtney for everything. I love the spices and the spice box. And I’m tickled to get to try your preserves!
People like you make the world a nicer place.