Mint Jelly (using fresh mint from your garden)

Mint Jelly

Read this recipe all the way through before beginning. I made some adjustments and changes to it as I did mine. You can follow what I did or follow the recipe, whichever way works best for you. Following this recipe is a personal choice, I can't be help responsible for any negative results you get from using it or storing it.

3 cups packed Mint Leaves
Green Food Coloring
4 cups Sugar
1 pkg, powdered pectin




This recipe calls for using Mint leaves, so if you have Mint  in your garden this is a good recipe for it.

Pick and wash fresh mint leaves carefully and bring to a boil with 3 3/4 cup of water.
       (I went a step further with mine and tore my leaves in half)

Steep (leave the leaves sitting in the water off of heat source) for at least 10 minutes. (I let mine sit for about 20 minutes to assure I had a good amount of mint flavoring)

Strain through a double layer of cheesecloth and measure out 3 cups of the mint infusion. (I didn't have cheese cloth but did have one of the wire strainers that has very small holes, it worked great)
 a few drops of green food coloring to get the desired color you want.

Combine the mint infusion and sugar in a large kettle and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved, then continue the boil for 1 minute.

Add pectin all at once, continue to stir constantly and boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and skim off foam. (I avoid this step by adding a 1/2 tsp butter, it keeps jelly from foaming and doesn't affect the taste at all)

Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal with parrafin. (I also did not seal mine in this manner I put , mine in the sterilized jars, put seals and lids on them and then ran them for 10 minutes in boiling water in my cold pack canner, worked great)

Additional Notes: Once the jelly was done and one jar cooled I put it in the refrigerator. Once cooled I tried it one a slice of toast and it was okay. Not quite as strong in the mint flavor as I expected but you could definitely taste the mint. I have read often where mint jelly is good for use when cooking lamb. We don't eat lamb but I'm thinking it would be great on pork.

Pictures of Jams, Jelly and Zuchinni Relish

I'm so happy to share the following pictures with all of you. Hubby, daughter and I really put in some work on all of this but we are so happy with the outcome. I can't wait to get the recipes on here for you all to try out if you prefer.

I also wanted to add that I'm in the process of making a Zuchinni Relish. I have been told that if I will make this for my family they will never want pickle relish again, so we will see how that turns out.

The short jar on the left is the Mint Jelly. Made out of a Speariment Plant that I've been growing all summer long. Not to worry, the plant was not destroyed and does have a lot of new leaves starting. The Red jar is Watermelon Jelly and the Orange/Yellow jars on the right are Cantalope Jelly

I should have added a touch more green to this to make the color a bit brighter but sure wasn't thinking  about it.

These are jars we had already done. Left is Blackberry Jelly and Right is Peach jam,

This is the start of the Zuchinni Relish. You start by putting in ten cups of Zuchinni, 5 cups of chopped onions. I cheated and used 2 1/2 cups of dehrdrated onions I already had, 3 Green Peppers,  2 Red Peppers and 1 cup of salt. This has to sit overnight and then you finish it up the next day. When I get it done and they have gotten to taste test it I'll let you know how it turns out. They say that once you have this you will never want pickle rilish again.

What a busy day!

Okay I have a few more minutes here to breathe, (lg inhale).

It certainly has been a busy day. Got up at 6:30 am, picked my mom up and we went and picked blackberry's. It was a good thing we went today because they are just about done for this season. I have determined that we are starting a blackberry patch here at the house. We picked on flat for mom and it cost her $30.00.

I understand the concept of having a business and making money, I used to be the regional manager of five retail stores. I do however believe there is a difference in making money and just flat ripping people off. So many people, primarily our children, need to be eating fresh fruits and vegetables, they simply cannot afford it. While waiting for our Tomato's to be ready my mom stopped at a road produce stand and they charged her $5 for three Tomato's. That is just insane! 

If you and I went to Wal Mart, each of us having $200 to spend, one of allowed to purchase only things that are good for you and healthy and the other only allowed to purchase junk food, the person purchasing junk food would have so much more food in their cart. And they wonder why in America we have such a problem with overweight people. The economy stinks, jobs are hard to find and you have to buy to eat what you can afford. (That coupled with the fact that game stations and TVs are the best babysitters, instead of getting kids outside running and playing ) Okay I'm off my soap box now.

After we got her Blackberry's we stopped at a couple of garage sales and then came on home.

Mint Jelly and Cantelope Jam has been made. I started Grand Scale Zuchinni Relish. You mix half of it together and then it has to sit for 24 hours before you can finish it. I had to get out of the kitchen for a few so hubby could make supper and then I'm back in there to finish up the Watermelon jelly, probably two batches of that. Again it's a good deal I have help because this is just too much in one day.

Then once it starts cooling off outside we have to go out and get another bed of green beans and a bed of peas planted. It's a good thing they are only 4x4 beds. I may not even make it out to get that done, hubby may have to do it without me because my CHP is really kicking in. I usually don't take MEDs in the middle of the day but I'm going to have to today and hope that I can get it under control enough to go to Church tomorrow.

I'm going to get the recipes I've been using put on here so that if you would like to try them you can. I won't get it done today, maybe Monday, but I will get them on here.

I'm off of here for now I've decided to lay down and take a little rest. I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Mint Jelly and Cantelope Jam

I have so many things to catch you all up on but I'm so limited on time today. I took this short break to run in here and tell you that I made a trial batch of Cantelope Jam and oh my goodness you have no idea how good that stuff is.

Everything that went in the jar was all natural, didn't even have to use boxed pectin, and the stuff is just amazing. I'm thinking I may have to start sharing these recipes with you all so that you too can enjoy them.

So far today we have Mint and Cantelope Jelly and Jam made. Next on the agenda is Zuchinni Relish and then Salsa. Thank God for my husband and daughter who are helping me to get all of this done. My CHP would never allow me to stay moving long enough to do it alone. We are going to feel like royalty this winter eating all this yummy food that is taking so precious little to make.