Frost. I heard the word bandied around on two different weather reports last night. I just went out to do a garden check and see what might not make it. What I found was a bunch of peppers. I planted red and yellow bell peppers and poblano peppers. My uncle taught me to be careful about planting peppers together. One summer I planted habaneras with my other peppers. He predicted it would make all of them too hot to eat. I thought that was some kind of weird southern lore, and fearlessly bit into my fist bell pepper of the summer. We almost called 911.
So what can I do with the peppers? Pepper jelly! When I went to Rhodes, my Memphis friends would sometimes invite me to their homes for dinner. I was shocked by the Memphis tradition of serving crackers and a block of cream cheese with something dumped on top as an appetizer. My mother was horrified when I told her. In her world a cocktail without cheese straws was as tacky as blue hydrangeas in the front yard. It only confirmed what she had long suspected about Memphis. The cream cheese toppings ranged from pouring a can of smoked oysters on top, to dousing it with Pickapeppa sauce, something I initially thought was regional to Memphis, to my favorite, frosting the top with pepper jelly.
I still love pepper jelly and cream cheese, but I’ve found about a million other delicious things to do with it, including cutting cheese straw dough in rounds and putting a dab in the center. (Mom are you reading this?) So this afternoon I’ll thumb through my recipes for pepper jelly, try to remember which one I like best, and then make a batch. If it’s a success, I’ll pass along the recipe with some yummy ideas on how to serve it.
