….spicy tomato-ginger jam 

I forget where I first tasted tomato jam, but I can tell you that I instantly fell in love with it!
I’ve been searching for a recipe for a few years, and the few times I attempted to make it, it did not come out well🙁
I’ve been doing a lot of research ove the last few weeks, giving that I have SO many tomatoes! (You can see just how tall my tomatoes a in my previous post) 

I played around with a recipe yesterday and I have a winner!  I based it on This recipe, but made a few changes.
 I didn’t take too many photos because honestly, I wasn’t too optimistic after my previous failed attempts. 
It’s not a quick recipe.. but it is super easy.  
And the flavors..
Oh.

My.

Goodness!

spicy tomato-ginger jam 

4 pounds tomatoes, cored and peeled ( for details on how to do this see This post)

3 cups sugar 

1/2 cup lemon juice 

1 jalapeño, halved and seeded

3 pieces of crystallized ginger 

2 cloves

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 

1 tsp cinnamon 

Sea salt

Ground pepper 


Place all ingredients in food processor of high-speed blender and pulse until chopped up to the point just before puréed 


Add mixture to heavy non-reactive pan.  Bring to a boil and the reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. 


It’s starts out pretty soupy, but slowly thickens. It took my batch close to 5 hours! 



As it gets close to the end, it will start getting glossy looking and thick.  You have to stir more often as it gets close to being done.  Essentially, you’ve condensed the sugars and don’t want it to burn. 



You can store it in a jar in the fridge, or you can process it, like I did 

It’s amazeballs on crackers with cream cheese… ( these are my favorite crackers, btw… they are amped right here in Denver, they are super thin, tasty and figure-friendly!) 

It would be incredible on bruschetta with a thin later of ricotta.. and maybe some prosciutto on top.. 

And it’s a good thing that I don’t have bread right now, because this would make a most excellent grilled cheese with white cheddar cheese 😍
Maybe I’ll treat myself later this week…
The jam has what I’d call a ‘sweet heat’. Think jalapeño pepper jelly ( which I made and processed last week) 
It’s elegant enough to have on a special occasion/ holiday.
I’m going to make another batch and process from holiday gifts.  I think it’s that good! 
On another note… I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but I’d like to introduce you to our newest family member 

Meet my Jersey Girl 🐾😍❤️️

boo!

did I a-scare you? sorry about that…

I know its been awhile… I’m not proud of my behavior…

that’s not true. I am proud. I was able to make the * very difficult * switch from one server to another. Greek to some of you? good… let it stay that way…. it really wasn’t fun.. buuuut it’s done 🙂

I will have many more fun things on this server… like the ziplist feature. Don’t know what that is? no worries…. I’ll ‘splaine.

click on save this recipe and it will bring you to a create and account page . ( if you don’t have a zip list account, trust me, you want one)

think of it as your cyber recipe box. You can save any recipe to you box ( once your account is opened ) and create and print shopping lists.

it’s awesome.

soooo to try out this new feature I will share one of my oldest recipes.. Creamy Cheesy Chicken.
This recipe goes back to our camping days. I used to make meals ahead of time & freeze them so that I could just pop them in the oven in our camper. Over the years I have continued to make this, using many variations… it is always a hit!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:2]

I do not remember where I first saw this recipe… I just know that it is a family favorite. its great because you can have all of the ingredients on hand and whip it up in no time!

since I am on a new server.. anyone who had followed the blog by email will need to re follow. on the bottom right side of the screen is a ‘follow’ button.. just click that and enter your email and you are good to go!

happy halloween, friends…. I leave you with a picture of Ali’s costume this year.. along with her friends. They are the Rugrats.. form the popular 90’s cartoon… Ali made the costumes last night. I am so proud of her.. not only for wanting to be a cartoon character , but for being as creative as she was….

and lastly…. my most fav Halloween ever…..I remember it like it was yesterday…. Ryan and I painted his costume in the fornt yard and making Ali’s costume was so much fun. I’ve never been one for a pre bought costume… making them was almost as fun as the actual trick or treating 🙂

this is my last Halloween that I will be sending trick or treaters out into the world to fetch some good candy for their dad 😉 It’s quite bittersweet.

so happy halloween, my friends… be careful out there… those little witches and munchkins are very excited 🙂

xooxoxox

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