Ok, I have found my cryptic handwritten notes on my own famous (well, at least at my local farmer's market) onion-garlic-pepper jelly. I used to sell at least a case (12 half-pints) of this stuff a week....and I have never shared the secret recipe, UNTIL NOW! (This is starting to sound like an informercial...tee hee.) Gina's Locally-Famous Onion-Garlic-Pepper Jelly 1 1/2 cups mixed peppers (both sweet and hot*), seeded and finely chopped 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar 5 cups sugar 1 pouch Certo liquid pectin Combine everything except the pectin and bring to a full, rolling boil for at least a minute. Stir in the pectin, bring back to a rolling boil for five minutes. Fill jars (this usually yields 3 pints/6 half-pints) and process in a boiling water bath, 10 minutes for half-pints and 15 minutes for pints. *I like about half red bell pepper and half whatever hot peppers are good to go from the garden. Choose according to your desired heat level, from mild Anaheims all the way up to habaneros, if you dare! I usually use something mild like Anaheim or Nardello, some jalapenos and/or serranos, and maybe some cherry peppers or (red) super chilis for a little more color. And I use the food processor to make easy work of chopping all the veggies. Serving Suggestions: The traditional preparation is to serve this spooned over a brick of cream cheese with crackers But our FAVORITE thing to do is to roast a chicken halfway, take it out, glaze it liberally with the pepper jelly, and finish roasting it. The chicken comes out shiny and crispy and sweet and spicy and succulent. SO GOOD! Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious

Without the actual name of the recipe or at least the page number I can't find exactly what recipe you are talking about so I am going to assume it is the Hot Pickle Mix one on pg. 50 in the newest edition? Could really use that info in the future. ;) Otherwise, since these are all low-acid vegetables, I'd keep all the other veggies to the same amounts called for in the recipe and just use the peppers you have. Without computing the pH differences in all of them there is no way to know what affect changing the amounts would have on the pH. If that is the correct recipe then yes, you can add more of the carrots or cauliflower (I wouldn't add cukes as they will dilute the vinegar because of all the water they contain) as long as you keep the total amounts of vegetables the same since that recipe has ample vinegar in it (10 cups). Dave

Sometimes I feel a whole lot like the Grinch, spoiling people's canning. I don't know if that recipe is safe or unsafe. It's the not-knowing that's the problem. It's on the higher-risk end, though, because you have to have acid to counteract the oil and then more acid to raise the pH of the low-acid onion, peppers, celery and garlic. How much I don't know. Also, 10 minutes processing time is great for jams, but it seems awfully short for this. 1994 is the date of the last USDA revision and the NCHFP recipes developed since then, as well as what you see in new editions of the Ball Blue Book or any of the current sources, work from those standards. The USDA is planning a new revision now, but I don't know how soon it will come out or what will change. There's always new research changing what we assumed, like the listeria problem with certain refrigerator pickles. Who could have imagined? The trick is there are a lot of great recipes out there in books like Chesman's and then scattered amongst them are those that are doubtful. I'm not suggesting abandoning the book, just being selective. In "Blue Ribbon Preserves" Linda Amendt suggests canning curds, which are loaded with eggs and butter. When I asked her about it, she said the recipe wasn't tested (I don't know how she arrived at the pressure and time) and that she no longer cans her curds but refrigerates them. That's a really popular book. But there's been no revision or errata sheet and she hasn't said anything on her website. It gets kind of worrisome when you think an author has changed her own practices but hasn't acknowledged that in print. So the odds are that nothing would happen if you ate that sauce the rest of your life. But the potential for problems is definitely there. I'd refrigerate it; I don't see why it couldn't be frozen for long-term storage. It might be worth taking a small amount, if you have the space, and doing a test-container for the freezer, just to see how it holds up. Carol

Made me think of my dad when I was growing up. He added crushed peppers to hot sausage that he bought. john