Noodling around on the internet I happened upon a peppers download from the Univ of Calif. It had an apricot pepper jelly recipe that is very similar to the big batch but using powdered pectin. It has more apricots, more vinegar and less sugar. No onions but I could sub some for some of the bell peppers. I would finely dice the veggies rather than put them in the blender. APRICOT PEPPER JELLY Makes 6 half-pint (250-ml) jars. 1 1âÂÂ4 cups dried apricot halves, finely slivered 300 ml 1 cup red or green bell pepper strips 250 ml (about 1 medium-size pepper) 1âÂÂ3 cup chopped jalapeno or other hot 75 ml pepper, stems and seeds removed 2 cups cider vinegar (5%) 500 ml 4 cups sugar 1 L 1 package powdered fruit pectin 1 package 1âÂÂ2 tsp butter or margarine 2 ml 5 drops red or green food coloring 5 drops (depending on the type of pepper used) 1. Cover dried apricots with boiling water. Leave for approximately 10 minutes. Drain. 2. Combine bell pepper strips, chopped hot peppers, drained apricots, and 1âÂÂ2 cup (125 ml) vinegar in a food processor or blender. Process until partially ground with small chunks remaining. Pour into a saucepan. 3. Mix 1âÂÂ4 cup (63 ml) sugar with pectin. Stir into fruit mixture. Add butter and food coloring. 4. Bring to a boil quickly, stirring constantly. Immediately stir in remaining sugar. 5. Bring to a full boil, stirring, and boil hard for 1 minute. Remove from heat. 6. Skim foam off the top. Then ladle jelly into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1âÂÂ4 inch (0.5 cm) of headspace. 7. Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp cloth. Secure lids and ring bands, and process in a boiling water bath as prescribed in Table 8. Table 8. Recommended Processing Time for Apricot Pepper Jelly in a Water Bath Canner Processing Time at Altitudes of 0-1,000 ft 1,001-6,000 ft above 6,000 ft Jar Size half-pint or pint 15 min 20 min 25 min

Thanks bcskye! I am excited about the next fair beginning Monday in another town about 50 miles away. I am not expecting to win anything though...but we will see! This IS addictive. My friend who encouraged me to enter has been doing so for years. Last year she had 124 jars entered and won a ribbon on almost all of them! However another lady had 160 jars and beat her out on points for ribbons. I was really just enetering to get free passes for my kids and grandkids! LOL. Now they have me hooked. I am already planning what to enter next year! Nanahanna

Thanks for the feedback Carol :) As for the recipe above, it follows the hot version of yours except the apple swapped for the bell pepper, so If anyone wants to use the weight measurements for apricot, onion, habanero, you can use the gram measurement found in the other thread about habanero gold. As for the jelly I made, I added a a little bit more habanero, but had already swapped 1/2 cup bell pepper for 1/2 cup apple, so I think the end result would be slightly more acidic than the Habanero Gold recipe. (I added far less than an additional 1/2 cup habs) Of course, you're the pro, so let me know what you think! Thanks.

Density is an issue and I'm especially uncomfortable with products that you aren't going to heat before consuming. I'd definitely be a little uncomfortable with thicker salsa, depending on how thick. Is it as thick as tomato paste? That's too thick. I've adjusted the acidity in that recipe a couple of times, based on newer advice from Michigan State Extension Service, and now use a full cup of cider vinegar instead of the smaller amounts in the past. If it were me, I'd probably open that batch, add another 1/3 cup of vinegar or citrus juice (lemon and lime are more acidic than vinegar) , or more if it needs to be thinner, and then reheat and reprocess it. It's just better safe than sorry sometimes, and there are those low acid vegetables in there... I'm not going to even try to say that it is or is not safe, there's no real way for me to tell that and everyone has to decide the level of risk they are comfortable with, but I'd not be comfortable with that. I also think it's the paste tomatoes, I've never used those in salsa, just a mix of my heirloom slicers. Annie