jalapeno jelly

using a bumper crop of jalapeños and this recipe, a friend and i cooked up some very tasty jalapeño jelly. we did make one modification, substituting red jalapeños for the bell pepper.

jalapeno jelly

1 1/2 cup chopped jalapeño peppers
5 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 (6 fluid ounce) container liquid pectin

remove stems, seeds and ribs from jalapeños. dice in food processor. combine peppers, sugar and vinegar in large pot and bring to a rolling boil. boil for 3 minutes, watching carefully to avoid boiling over. let cool for 5 minutes. stirring constantly, add pectin and let cool for 2 minutes. stir for 1 minute. pour into 6 sterilized jelly jars. secure lids with rings and allow to cool. jelly will set up over the next 24 hours.
i served this jelly over cream cheese with crackers, a classic munchie treat. i love the combination of spicy and sweet and i think the substitution of more jalapenos for bell peppers gave it just enough heat.

crepes in bed

the wedding is over. it was wonderful. and the food was excellent, as expected.
we went on a honeymoon. it was also wonderful. and the food was ok, as expected.

when i get the photographers pics, i'll blog the wedding food.
until then, here's a short word about the food we ate on the honeymoon. we stayed at an all-inclusive resort that was perfect for relaxation, sunshine and fun. the food was good, but nothing to rave about. there was one highlight to mention, and that is crepes. there was a creperie on the resort that had a really fantastic mexican crepe (with caramel and nuts) served with homemade coconut ice cream. once we discovered this little gem, it became a nightly ritual to get the crepes to go and eat them in bed. yum:

i'm back - boston food

thanks to skybus, a friend and i scored some $10 tickets to boston. columbus foodies: if you can get $10 tickets to boston, do it! boston had some great food, unfortunately there just weren't enough meals in my 4 day trip to fit in all the food i wanted to eat.

i was surprised by the quantity and quality of ethnic food in boston. the north end had an impressive offering of italian cuisine and specialty shops. we also had a great time in china town. i'd like to go back and eat for a few days straight in china town. two meals i regret not eating in china town: shabu shabu and dim sum. maybe next time. another thing that surprised me was the quantity of french food to be had in boston. maybe it's columbus' decided lack of french food that made it seem so prevalent.

a tasty dessert of fresh berries with brown sugar and honey creme fraiche from bouchee:
doing my best to consume as much lobster as humanly possible, i had this yummy dish of lobster ravioli with crab cream sauce at trattoria il panino:
then it was on to modern pastry for the best cannoli of my life. no joke:

other notable desserts were the chocolate gateau petit robert from le petit robert:
and the giant profiterole also from le petit robert:

and the crowning jewel of the entire trip, a dish so good i've thought about it at least once a day every day since and what will be my next recipe to obsessively attempt to duplicate and perfect:

carrot cake pancakes with maple cream cheese butter

from sugar magnolia's in gloucester mass. yeah, you heard it right. carrot cake + pancakes + maple + cream cheese + butter = pure heaven. i think i moaned aloud for the -entire- meal. so light and fluffy, yet rich. texture was perfect and the taste was just the right amount of pancake and just the right amount of carrot cake. i'd fly back to boston just to eat these pancakes.