I was a bit stunned to realize that it’s December already!  Winter has moved in somewhat, as evidenced by the blizzard we got a week ago down here in the ATX, but listening to NPR, I was shocked by the realization that it’s only been a year since Bernard Madoff entered the lexicon – indeed, it’s only been a year since the word “bailout” was introduced as well.

Does that mean it’s been a long year?  Or a short one?

This is my 11th 12 of 12 for the year—my perfect record was ruined because I didn’t manage to do one in October (it would, frankly, have sent me ‘round the bend).  Bah.

9:41 am: Coffee

Cafe Yaucono, imported personally by yours truly from Puerto Rico, where they know what coffee is supposed to taste like.  (I brought back five pounds of the stuff and vacuum packed it).  Cafe Yaucono was chosen as the unanimous favorite by five out of five supermarket employees quizzed by yours truly as they walked by and were asked, “Cual de estos cafes es lo mejor?”

10:20 am: Time to make the jelly

As I lamented the other day, shortly before the hard freeze that hit last weekend, I ran out to salvage what was left of the crop off of the chili and pepper plants that started to produce again in October.  What this did was stick me with a half pound of habanero chilis, which are ridiculously hot – most salsas that use them call for half a chili, whereas I had over 30 to do something with. While I like to make my own salsa, the prospect of using all thirty up half a chili at a time was not one that I found attractive.

My Facebook pal Claire – haven’t seen her since high school, but that’s the beauty of Facebook – found a solution online in the form of a recipe for cranberry habanero jelly.  Over the years, one of the taste combinations that I’ve grown to love is spicy/sweet.  Not coincidentally, I’m a big fan of the locally produced raspberry-chipotle sauce, and its cousins that combine mango, ginger and habaneros, and peaches and habaneros.  Problem is, when peach season hit (and it hits nicely in the Texas Hill Country – you can buy a bushel at a roadside stand very cheaply), I had no habaneros.  Now that I have habaneros, the peaches are out of season.  Cranberries are a nice, seasonal alternate.

10:58 am: Simmer down now

Admit it.  You’ve always wanted to see what a slurry of 3 cups of white vinegar, two cups of seeded, diced habaneros, three cups of diced red bell pepper, and a cup each of fresh and dried cranberries looks like when it’s simmering in a pot.

11:11 am: My Smart Stick is Smarter than your Disco Stick

I don’t use my immersion blender nearly enough.  This was right before I added the 14 cups of sugar.

11:30 am: A Wet Dog is an Unhappy Dog

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Mocha hates water and getting wet.  But she smelled, so it was time for a bath, which involved much sulking.

11:57 am: An Unhappy Dog is a Sulky Dog

Not to toot my own horn, but this may be the best photo I’ve ever taken of Mocha.

12:17 pm: The haul

Back at the stove, with the fruit pectin mixed in and the jelly all ladled out into individual jars.  It’s heavy on the spicy, that’s for sure.  I bought a bunch of small jars that will be used as office gifts.

12:54 pm: Boil, dammit

It took forever for the water to come to a boil so that I could start sealing the jars.  What they say about watched pots is true.

3:20 pm: Can we go now?

Lunch and a couple of shows on the DVR later, Mocha starts getting a little restless because it’s time for her W-A-L-K, and she’s not going to let us forget it.

7:51 pm: At the Cajun Christmas Party

Ray’s coworker Elisa throws a Cajun Christmas party every year, ‘cos she’s a born and bred Louisiana girl.  And let’s be honest: Etouffe is just another way of saying “in lots of butter.”  There’s absolutely no bad there.

For much of the evening, I was seated in front of the rum cake and other desserts.  I was very good … although the yogurt coated pretzels did prove to be my weakness.  Whatevs.  I just won’t eat tomorrow.

10:07 pm: Homeward Bound

I don’t know why it is that I like playing with long exposures when I’ve been drinking (this one was a 2 second exposure … and, no, I wasn’t driving – give me some credit), but I do.  I think it matches my state of mind.

And that was MY 12th.  How was yours?