Many families are still celebrating our country’s independence today, and many people are relaxing on the last day of a four-day weekend.  Most of us would agree that we drink far too much carbonated soda, so let’s make a big batch of Spicy Summer Punch!  It’s good for us, and it’s delicious.  This recipe makes a large batch, perfect for a punch bowl or for several pitchers.  Spicy Summer Punch freezes well, too.

The day before you make the punch, make special ice cubes by using lemonade, orange juice, pineapple juice, or all three – or any kind of fruit juice – in ice cube trays or in any kind of mold you wish.

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar (I use Splenda)

4 cups water

2 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)

6 cans (the 6-oz size) frozen lemonade (do not dilute)

2 cans (the 6-oz size) frozen orange juice (do not dilute)

5 cups pineapple juice

4 cups pineapple chunks

2 cups Texas Pineapple Habanero pepper jelly

1 gallon water (Yes, this is another “helping” of water)

2 quarts of dry ginger ale

What to do:

Boil the sugar and water (the 4-cup batch) for about 10 minutes, or until it forms a syrup.  Add the juices and pepper jelly, and chill for 2 or 3 hours.  Add the remaining ingredients, and pour over the ice you made or molded yesterday.

Freeze half (or more) of the punch if you don’t need a large amount right away.

I like to float all kinds of fruit on top of the punch; I usually use thinly sliced limes, lemons, and oranges.  The pineapple chunks are floaters, too.  If I have berries, those are good, too.  In fact, if I have berries, I usually freeze them into the ice cubes the day before.

This is a lovely tart punch with a spicy kick, not the foamy creamy sweet kind.  It does a perfect job of quenching the thirst of a hot and humid summer day.  Put some toothpicks on the table so people can stab and eat the pieces of fruit.

Keep on checking our blog; our newest product is something so awesome, you won’t believe it until you try it.  Just before Labor Day, all will be revealed, and won’t you be glad!  Yes, you sure will be glad.  Mmmm, yum.

You’ll think this Texas Tip is odd, until you try it.

After you try it, you’ll be hooked, too.

Spoon some Texas Pepper Jelly into an ice cube tray.  Put the tray in the freezer.

The next day, when the pepper jelly is frozen solid, twist the pepper jelly cubes out of the tray and into a pitcher or punchbowl.

So far, my family has used pepper jelly ice cubes with: hot tea, iced tea, various punches, Sprite, Coke, Diet Pepsi,  Mountain Dew, and coffee.

My favorite so far is pepper jelly ice cubes and Sprite.  My husband likes them floating in his punch.  My daughter can’t decide if she likes hot or iced tea and pepper jelly ice cubes best.

My son, however, put his in a glass of white wine and proclaimed himself the winner.

(We’re going to make some spicy pepper jelly margaritas later. )

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we here at Texas Pepper Jelly hope that your holiday is a safe and happy one.  We hope you all are breaking bread with family or friends, and that when the day is over, you are all enriched by the fellowship.

Let me also add that almost anything on your holiday table can be made even better by putting a little Texas Pepper Jelly on it, or in it, or around it.  Dip things into the pepper jelly.  Spread pepper jelly on things.  Use pepper jelly instead of salad dressing, or regular jelly.

Texas Pepper Jellies are delicious on hot rolls or biscuits.  Some pepper jelly in your pasta salad turns ordinary noodles into something festive.  Mix a little pepper jelly into your dressing, before baking, and you’ll have something almost too delicious to be real.

Why settle for plain coffee or tea at your Thanksgiving table?  Stir some pepper jelly into your hot drinks and let it melt, and you’ve got a real treat.

Look around at your Thanksgiving table, in fact, and you’ll see many places a dab or two or pepper jelly would make a positive difference.

Make it easy on yourself and your guests; put some Texas Pepper Jelly on the table and let your guests use it however they wish.  I can’t think of a single limitation for it!

Happy Thanksgiving from Texas Pepper Jelly.

The holidays are fast approaching, and it’s time to start collecting ideas for our festive get-togethers!

When you’ve got a crowd, and the weather is cold, there’s just nothing better than a crockpot full of hot mulled apple tea.  Give everybody a cinnamon stick to stir with, and you’ll be able to hear the sighs of contentment all over the house.

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon apple cider                                                                              

1/2 gallon strong tea

One 5-ounce jar Texas Apple Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

One 2-ounce jar Texas Mandarin Orange Habanero Pepper Jelly

1 sliced lemon

1 sliced orange

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon cloves

1 tablespoon allspice

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

What to do:

Put everything in your crockpot, turn it on “low,” and let it simmer for about three hours.  Give everyone a cinnamon stick to stir with.

Texas Pepper Jelly’s Hot Mulled Apple Tea is even better with doughnuts.

Shhh, don’t tell my mama that I’m giving you this hint!

But, the next time you fix yourself a Bloody Mary, add a few squirts of Texas Habanero Salsa to it.

You’ll never drink a plain Bloody Mary again, and that’s a promise.

It’s FANTASTIC!

Here’s another simple suggestion to kick that glass of orange juice up a few notches:  Add a spoon or two of Texas Mandarin Orange Habanero pepper jelly to it!

Stir thoroughly, add some ice cubes and a straw, and drink up!

My husband will occasionally add a shot of vodka to his Texas Orange Juice, but you didn’t hear that from me.  It’s really, really good, though. 

Once again, sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones!

Are you kids addicted to fruit punch in the summer?  Are YOU?  Well, isn’t it annoying when the ice cubes dilute your drink? And wouldn’t you like to put a little grown-up ZING in your punch?

You can do that with alcohol, of course, but we won’t go there.  Instead, why don’t you fill an ice cube tray with your favorite Texas Pepper Jelly and drop THOSE cubes in your punch instead of plain water cubes?  When the pepper jelly cubes melt, they’ll just add more ZING to your punch, instead of watering it down.

Get up right now and go do it.  You know you’ll be glad you did in a few hours when you can cool down your fruit punch with something as delicious and spicy as Texas Pepper Jelly Ice Cubes!

Are you in the mood for some iced tea that will really wake up your taste buds?  Try our Zingy Apple Tea!  It’s awesome.

Ingredients:

3 bags cinnamon herbal tea

3 cups boiling water (be careful!)

Several cinnamon sticks

6 whole cloves, or 3 tsp. ground cloves, or to taste

1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple juice

1 5-oz jar Texas Apple Pepper Jelly

What to do:

In a medium saucepan, combine apple juice, pepper jelly, cloves, and one of the cinnamon sticks, and bring to a boil over high heat.  then reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten more minutes.

While that mixture is immering, bring the water to a boil and then remove from heat and drop in the tea bags.  Allow to steep for about 7 minutes.  Remove and discard the tea bags.

Strain the cloves and cinnamon stick from the first mixture, and stir both mixtures together.  We like it best cold, but lots of people like this tea hot, too.  Use the extra cinnamon sticks for stirring.

Drink up!

Flavored coffees, teas, juices, punches, and ciders are very popular, and they’re popular because they’re so yummy good.  Texas Pepper Jelly – every single kind! – is an excellent and inexpensive way to stir some spice into your cup of hot tea, your glass of iced tea, your mug of hot cocoa, your punch bowl, your mug of cider (hot or cold) and even your big glass of cola!

Give it a try, why don’tcha.  My husband’s favorite drink these days is hot tea with a spoonful of Peach Habanero melted in it, and he’s not found a Texas Pepper Jelly flavor he’s not liked, yet!  The peach is his favorite in hot tea, though.  My daughter loves to stir some Cherry Jalapeno into her Sprite, and my son has experimented with all of the flavors in, um, certain drinks which his mother certainly did not teach him to use.  They’re sure good, though!  He tells me that some Blackberry Jalapeno Pepper Jelly stirred into a glass of blackberry wine is fit for a king.

Last night, we stirred some Texas Passion Pepper Jelly in our plain black coffee, and it was FANTASTIC.

Why not order a Mixed Case of Texas Pepper Jelly, and do some experimenting of your own?