Raspberry (or any fruit) syrup

1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.
Stir in water.
Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil.
Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
Stir in the raspberries.

 My Comments:

The reviews on this recipe said it was runny, so I did rounded tablespoons of cornstarch.  Worked great.

I smooshed the raspberries before adding them in, and then ran the finished syrup through my strainer (picture below) to get the seeds out.   I had to take a spoon and scrape the bottom of the strainer to get all the syrup through.  The seeds plug up the holes.  :)   I would do the same with blueberries.  Smoosh them, cook it, and run it through the strainer to strain out the skins.

I didn't measure it exactly, but I would say it makes about 16 ounces of syrup.  I doubled it and filled up a 24 ounce syrup bottle, and still had some left over.

Banana Butter (jam)

3 cups mashed bananas (10 medium)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries
6 1/2 cups sugar
1 bottle (6 oz) liquid pectin

Put first four ingredients in saucepan.  Mix well, bring to hard rolling boil.  Boil hard 1 minute.  Stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, quickly stir in pectin.

you can either just throw it in your fridge, or process the mixture to seal the lids like you would any other jam.  Yummy, Yummy.

Jalapeno Jelly

  from Celeste Fisher

 1/3 C. fresh Jalapeno peppers
  1 C. chopped bell peppers
  3 Cups Cider Vinegar
  6 Cups Sugar
  1 bottle of liquid pectin
  1 tsp. or less of green food coloring

   Puree peppers with seed (if want spicier) with vinegar.  Pour into a large non-aluminum pot, add food coloring and sugar.  Stir to dissolve.  Bring to boil, add pectin, and boil again.  Put in hot jars and process for 10 minutes.

  * I have had this jelly over cream cheese on crackers and it is delicious.  Also, very festive for the Christmas season.



Recipe from my sister Celeste!