Andrew and Isaac with Kyla making cut-out Christmas cookies.

Ahhhhhh!  It feels good to sit down at the computer.  For days, I have been running around here like a chicken with its head cut off.  My home has transformed into Santa’s Workshop and Christmas Factory.  My hands have been busy creating, making, and baking.

God sure did bless with me with such a wonderful daughter.  She is such a help with the work, with the boys, and with the baking.  She loves to bake and we love it when she does because she is so good at it.

Today we made Christmas Cookies from Heather on SCD Recipe.  Kyla made almond butter brownies from Texas Homesteader’s Wheat-Free Cookbook. She just substituted the sugar with honey in equal parts.  And, we are making Holiday Cookies from Elana Amsterdam’s book, The Almond Flour Cookbook. Christmas just is not Christmas without baking and decorating cut-out cookies.

From the emails I have been receiving, I know that I am not the only one busy making gifts.  Most emails have concerned my Blue Ribbon Jalapeno Jelly recipe.  There are going to be some really happy recipients of this delicious jelly all over the country.

We are in the process of curing our own fresh ham and smoking it for Christmas dinner along with a turkey.  We are also roasting a nice wild duck.  In addition, I am mashing cauliflower with gravy and roasted butternut squash separately.  I love the latter; it is almost like eating sweet potatoes.  Kyla is making green beans with bacon (legal on SCD, of course).  We are having fruit salad and biscuits.

For dessert, we will have pecan pie cupcakes with Incredible Icing, our variety of cookies, and lemon bars.  My mom is making pumpkin pie with legal whipped cream.  In fact you can see my yogurt maker on the counter by Isaac in the photograph.  You make it like yogurt with a yogurt culture and cook it for 24 hours to make French Cream.  Then you add a dash of vanilla and some honey to your taste and whip it up.  Yummy!!  I am going to have to roll away from the table.

Anyone who says you cannot possible enjoy eating on Christmas or any other special occasion on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet needs to learn how to cook.  You are your own obstacle in that regard.  We are eating like kings.

I also write for another blog, Welcome To The Ranch!  Last night I was inspired to write my own version of Clement C. Moore’s classic, The Night Before Christmas. If you want to see what I came up with, read “Twas the Night Before Christmas“.

I just wanted to sit down and take a moment out of my hectic day to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas.  It will probably be after the New Year before I write again.  Therefore, Happy New Year, too!  Have a safe and fun time with your family.  Merry Christmas, again!

Our Jalapeno Jelly

One of the entries my daughter, Kyla, entered in the county fair was jalapeno jelly.  Last summer, I had so many jalapenos coming off of two plants that I did not know what to do with them.  I froze quarts of peppers for chili and pots of beans in the winter.  We stuffed them with cream cheese and grilled them.  Clayton and Lane even ate some raw.  Despite all of our efforts including giving buckets of jalapenos away, we still had a growing surplus.

I had heard of jalapeno jelly, but had never tasted it.  So, I started reading different recipes.  I was surprised at how few jalapenos most of the recipes included.  Their jelly recipes consisted mainly of bell peppers.  Finally, I found a true jalapeno jelly and got to work.

It used only jalapenos, sugar, cider vinegar, and liquid pectin.  Therefore, it looked relatively simple to make.  After making my first batch, I was honestly afraid to try it.  My entire house smelled spicy and hot.  I could not imagine what the jelly was going to be like.  A couple of days later, I worked up the nerve to open a jar.  I could not believe how good the jelly tasted on a cracker!  The jelly is surprisingly sweet.

Kyla seeding and coring the peppers. When I made it the first time, my glove had a slit in it. I found out by the burning of my skin. Wear gloves without holes!

I began bringing my jelly, crackers, and cream cheese to different get-togethers as an appetizer.  People were raving about it.  The whole jar would disappear before dinner was served.  I was getting many requests for the jelly.  For Christmas this past year, I created Farm Fresh Baskets and included decorated jars of my jalapeno jelly.

Now I have taught my daughter to make it.  If I had to rate her experience level cooking, then she would be an intermediate.  She bakes mostly and can cook some dinners without supervision.  Even so, this jelly was not difficult for her to make.  Her batch won a blue ribbon this week at the fair.  Here is the recipe:

Jalapeno Jelly

3/4 lb of jalapenos, cored and seeded
2 cups apple-cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
2 pouches liquid pectin
3 drops of green food coloring (optional)

Wearing gloves, wash, seed, and core the jalapenos.  Puree them in a food processor with 1 cup of vinegar.  Pour into a medium sized pot.  Add the other cup of vinegar and all the sugar.  Bring to a boil while stirring constantly.  Allow to boil for 10 minutes.  Add the pectin and let it rapidly boil for one minute.  Remove from heat and skim the top if needed.  If desired, you can add food coloring.

Ladle jelly into clean, warm canning jars leaving a 1/4″ head space.  Wipe the rim of the jar and put on sterile lid.  Screw on the top.  Put in water bath for 10 minutes.  Remove, let cool, and check for good seal.

Serve with crackers and/or cream cheese.

The jelly itself is gluten-free.  My mother-in-law found some great gluten-free crackers for us to eat with the jelly.  They are Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers.  The jelly is excellent on just a plain cracker.  Enjoy!