Tomorrow is Halloween, and we here at Texas Pepper Jelly hope that you and your children have a very safe and very enjoyable day – and night!

Most of us have a jack-o-lantern out on the front porch, but what in the world do we do with all those seeds?  Easy!  In fact, the more seeds you have, the better!

Get out a shallow baking dish and melt 1/2 cup of butter in it.  (I just set the pan and butter in the oven while it’s pre-heating)

Pre-heat your oven to 400.

Take the baking dish out of the oven, and mix a 2-ounce jar of any flavor of Texas Pepper Jelly or Texas Grilling Sauce with the butter.

Make sure your pumpkin seeds are well-rinsed and that there is no pulp clinging to them.

Spread the cleaned seeds in the baking pan,  and stir them around in the butter/pepper jelly mixture.

Put the pan back in the oven, and toast for about eight minutes, or whenever the seeds begin to brown.

Remove them as soon as they are the “brown” that you prefer; some people like them VERY brown, while others like their pumpkin seeds only slightly browned.  Remember that the browner your seeds, the crispier they’ll be.

Sprinkle the toasted seeds with salt, dump them into a bowl, and stand back.  Don’t count on them lasting more than a few minutes.

Texas Pepper Jelly’s Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds are a delicious and nutritious snack, no matter how old or young you might be!

Happy Halloween 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.

This beautiful tin with the picture of an old-fashioned winter sleigh ride is just one of Texas Pepper Jelly’s new holiday gift ideas for you.

Most companies give you just one choice for the contents of such packages: theirs.  Texas Pepper Jelly is different; we let YOU choose what you want inside our holiday tins.

Our sleigh ride tin contains six 2-ounce jars of Texas Pepper Jelly.  What kind?  You tell us!  You can choose any kind of pepper jelly that you want!  You can have all six jars contain the same kind of pepper jelly, or you can have each one different!  YOU get to choose!

Our new Texas Pepper Jelly Sleigh tin, with six 2-ounce jars of any kind of pepper jelly you want, is only $22.97!

This is one of my husband’s favorite rainy-day meals.  Be sure to buy brown rice; you can make this with white rice, but it’s so much better with the brown rice.  That’s what HE says, anyway!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 cup Texas Habanero Salsa

3 cups cooked (or canned) kidney beans, well-drained  

One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, and keep all the juice

One and 1/2 cups water

Salt and pepper to taste – I don’t use the salt but other people do.

3 cups cooked brown rice

What to do:

Throw everything but the brown rice into your crockpot, cover, and turn the dial to “low.”

6-8 hours later, turn off the crockpot and set the table.  Just before you serve, add the brown rice.

This, and some good bread and butter, make a perfect wet-weather supper.

Here’s a quick and easy snack for anyone of any age!

Just put a little Apple Cinnamon Grilling and Finishing Sauce in your applesauce, and you’ve turned an ordinary snack into a real treat.

There’s no measuring; just add the sauce according to your taste.  For small children, go easy on the spicy sauce, but for you and other adults, go crazy with that spicy sauce! 

The combination of plain applesauce and Texas Pepper Jelly’s Apple Cinnamon Grilling and Finishing Sauce is indescribably delicious.  In fact, I think I’ll stir some up right now.

Back off.  Go stir up your own!

Thanksgiving is only a month away!  Some of us are already starting to plan our menus.

This year, I’m jazzing up the dressing a notch by adding  some Texas Pepper Jelly’s grilling and finishing sauces to the mix.  Dressing is delicious with apples, so it stands to reason it will be even better with Apple Cinnamon Grilling and Finishing Sauce.  (I’m currently obsessed with this product; it’s just simply delicious – and SO VERSATILE!)

I’m also going to try a batch of dressing with a little Cherry Habanero grilling and finishing sauce.  It just seems like it will be soooo good.

Making dressing is an excellent opportunity to do a little kitchen-experimenting, you know.  I’ve discovered some of my best dressing recipes by trial and error.

When I use any of the Texas Pepper Jelly products, however, EVERY experiment is successful.  Heck, those grilling and finishing sauces are even delicious over ice cream!

Texas Pepper Jelly’s 5 Jar Bamboo Star sampler basket is truly unique: not only is the bamboo star basket beautiful and completely recyclable/reusable, it also contains more pepper jelly than any of our other sampler packs!

In our fantastic 5-Jar Bamboo Star sampler pack, you will get five 5-ounce jars of ANY kind or combination of pepper jelly you want.  Most companies merely want to sell you already-made-up gift combos, but here at Texas Pepper Jelly, we don’t even make your jelly until you order it, let alone pre-pack your gift samplers!  Every product you order from Texas Pepper Jelly is absolutely fresh; no other company can promise you that.

The Texas Pepper Jelly 5-Jar Bamboo Star gift assortment will delight everyone lucky enough to get this gift from you.  Don’t forget to order one for yourself, as well!

It’s only $28.97! Order yours today!

The 5-Jar Bamboo Star makes a great thank-you gift if you’re invited out for Thanksgiving.

Oh, and did you notice that its name is a poem? 5-JAR Bamboo STAR. We’re just clever like that!

If you want to give someone a Christmas gift that is absolutely unique, and that he/she will not only like, but will also use and want more, I would have to suggest one of our Texas Pepper Jelly sampler tins.

Our sampler tins are beautiful and their contents are DELICIOUS! The tins themselves are, of course, completely recyclable. After you’ve devoured the pepper jelly within, fill the tin with fudge and take it to work. Tell everybody about the original contents, and watch the interest light up their faces!

Texas Pepper Jelly holiday tins contain six 2-ounce jars of assorted pepper jelly. In fact, you get to choose what kind of pepper jelly that will be in your tin: get any kind of assortment you want, or choose the one kind of pepper jelly that is your favorite! Since I like ALL kinds of pepper jelly, I’d have to get one of each, but you can pick and choose whatever kind you want.

Our Texas Pepper Jelly holiday tins are only $22.97. Where else can you get a quality sampler assortment for a price like that?

When I make Texas Pepper Jelly’s Texas Style Nacho Dip, it lasts MAYBE a half hour. My son, all by himself, can finish off an entire batch in one night. Your family will love this fantastic spicy dip, too.

Before you start mixing things together, get out your crockpot.  Yes, this is another Texas Pepper Jelly Slow-Cooker Delight!

Ingredients:

1 pound of cooked hamburger, well-drained                

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 12-ounce jars of Texas Habanero salsa

15-ounce can of refried beans

1 1/2 cups sour cream

3 cups shredded cheese, whatever kind your family likes (I use sharp cheddar)

Several bags of assorted chips – my son prefers tortilla chips

What to do:

Throw everything except the one cup of the cheese and the chips into your crockpot, cover, and turn the dial to “low.”  Let it cook for about two hours.

Just before serving, sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese over it.

Open the bags of chips and stand back.  Don’t count on any leftovers.

Everybody in your family will love Big Bean Blast – even the little kids! The cook in your home will love it, too, and not just because it’s simple, inexpensive, and very nutritious.

It’s also one of Texas Pepper Jelly’s extremely easy Crock Pot Meals!

Ingredients:                                                   

1 cup chopped onion

1 minced garlic clove

3 cups cooked (or canned) large lima or butter beans – or both – drained and rinsed

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, plus all of the juice

1 bottle of Texas Pepper Jelly’s Sweet Ginger Garlic Habanero Hot Sauce

salt and pepper to personal taste

What to do:

Dump it all into your crockpot and set the dial to “low.” Go to work, or to the mall, or just take a nap. The point is, you don’t have to hang around the kitchen; let the crockpot do all of the work and worry about dinner.

When everybody comes home from work or school, dip up a bowl of Big Bean Blast for each and stand back.

Eating this is a blast. You’ll really understand the name of this dish later that night, though.

Totally worth it. TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Fix a big pan of cornbread to go with the Big Bean Blast, and you’ve got a MEAL.