Hot Pepper Jam

Anyone who’s spent any time with me knows I love a good deal- especially when it comes to food.

When I originally saw these hot peppers on sale for $0.25 per tray I walked away from then- citing not enough time/hubby doesn’t like spicy/etc/etc.. But of course the seed had been planted and I ended up turning the cart around and grabbing a couple trays- The holidays will be here before we know it anyways. ;)

I made these fellas into a hot pepper jam (since I couldn’t get all the seeds out) using a very similar yield as I would with my strawberry rhubarb jam just the sugar to veg ratio is even scarier.

1 Cup chopped Hot Peppers (by hand or food processor- I love my food processor)

1 1/2 Cups Vinegar

6 Cups of Sugar

1 package of Certo

A few drops of red food colouring (optional but I found the natural colour of the jam weird)

  1. Start by sterilizing your jars.

  2. Combine the peppers, vinegar and sugar in a large pot and bring to a rolling boil.

  3. Remove from the heat and add in the certo.

  4. Mix everything one last time and add in red food colouring if desired.

  5. Carefully bottle and seal with new lids.

Enjoy!

I tested it out with a fresh baguette and slice of Brie.

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Fresh Pasta

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With the price of food ever rising I decided I’d start investing in a few things I’ve always wanted that will make the daily cost of living a little more manageable.

Don’t get me wrong… They were pricey (~$250 each) but I’ve been eyeing these pasta presses for a long time and am VERY HAPPY to have them.

I call these investments my “apocalypse prep” so that in the event we just end up fending for ourselves all I need is flour, water and eggs then some solar power to make all the comforts of home.

(Obviously more work to be done- bare pasta is kinda meh.. One step at a time.)

It seems like the pasta recipes are all very similar (and easy) the one that came in the pasta maker instruction manual by far seems to be the best consistency for the machines (who would have thought)

I’m really looking forward to experimenting with different flours once I get the hang of the basic recipe! Lots of opportunities for whole wheat or even vegetable based pastas I think. For now though I am enjoying this very easy 4 ingredient recipe- sometimes simple is best.

The presses allow me to make my own lasagna, fettachuni, spaghetti, macaroni, fuscalini, etc etc for pennies on the dollar- I don’t recommend making the switch to fresh pasta if you don’t want to invest the time to do the prep but I do recommend it for the amazing taste as ease of cooking (4 minutes!)

For the lasagna noodles I opted not to boil then, instead treating them like “ready to bake” noodles and putting them right in the oven. Took about 35 minutes to get them tender to our liking but if you have the time to do it I really recommend! With it cooking in the sauce it just added so much flavor.

I still need more practice with making spaghetti, it just LOVES getting stuck in the machine and the internet has not provided any assistance to why… So I think it will just be a matter of practice and getting the consistency and thickness just right.

I am so excited to continue to learn tips and tricks with these and I will certainly be sharing more as I learn!