{Foodie Post No. 4} Jalapeño Cranberry Jelly

So, remember my garden? My little "pot garden"? I had planned to use my "Foodie" thread to post ways I've used my produce.
WELL.... my tomato plant has produced one tomato and it started to rot before it was even ripe.
I forgot to water my spinach enough times that it went from young and tender to tough nasty looking stuff.
I never got any avocados on sale so the cilantro went unused; I have since let it die.
The basil is growing well but I haven't taken pictures of the meals I've used it in thus far.
The bell peppers have done pretty well and been used on Italian sausages.
My other plant was jalapeño. I'm not sure why I planted them because although I like the spice my 18 month old can't really handle it so I rarely cook super spicy food.
The Jalapeño plant is of course the plant that has produced and thrived despite my neglect in the watering category..
So, finally I have used some of them, only six, but that is a start.

I got this recipe from over here. I haven't checked any of their other recipes out but this one seems to be good.

INGREDIENTS
8 cups Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups Sugar
2-3 Jalapeños, chopped (I used 6 because mine were small and I wanted to err on the side of too spicy)
1 teaspoon fresh grated Ginger

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large sauce pan. Bring to a gentle boil and continue boiling until the cranberry skins burst. Crush the fruits with a potato masher until uniform in texture. Boil hard for one minute longer or until the mixture thickens.
2. Prepare your canning supplies. Bring the temperature of the glass jars up by processing them in hot water for several minutes, and heat a few cups of water in a small saucepan for the lids.
3. Skim off any foam and ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.
4. Place the lids and bands on top, screwing on the bands just until fingertip-tight. Place the full jars back into the boiling water and process 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the water and place the jars on a towel. Let the jars cool. The seals should suck down (you should hear a popping noise as they do). Makes 6 eight-ounce jars.

Ingredients (minus the sugar.. because I forgot about it)

christmas colors in a pot :)

waiting for the cranberries to pop

...still waiting.. isn't it pretty?

Once they popped I used my potato masher and made it into a uniform consistency 

see? The potato masher..

putting the rings on the jars

Wesley was waxing creative and wanted to do reflective water pictures ;)

after they had processed and I was about to pull them out

beautiful colors and yummy jelly

I tried a creative picture.. cool?

I didn't think to taste my jelly before I put it all into the jars but I licked the spoon and pot so I got a smidgen of a taste. I think it will be good on crackers and maybe with cream cheese or even on toast.

I have a small problem with hoarding jelly so here's to hoping I open, or gift this before I die.

And I'm serious. I hate using up my jelly. I have Raspberry jelly in my cabinet that I canned in 2010 and some pear butter from '11... 
I will have to give at least one of them away to my mom because I hadn't saved enough cranberries from last holiday season so she supplied me with the extra bag I needed. :)

That's all for now because I'm being an irresponsible "mommy blogger" and leaving the care of my children to my sisters :P

~Haley