I came across this recipe on Pinterest, thought I would try it out to use on my Christmas Treats Plates.  These taste great and are fairly easy to make.  Just make sure you have time to roll them all.  This recipe makes a huge batch.  I rolled out all the peanut butter balls on one day (with a little help from my wonderful sister) and then I dipped them in the chocolate a day later.  I plan on putting them in the freezer until I make up my Christmas plates.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Balls (also known as Buckeyes)

3 lbs powdered sugar

1 lb butter

4 cups smooth peanut butter

3 packages of dark chocolate candy chips

Combine powdered sugar, butter and peanut butter in a large bowl.  Mix with your hands until everything is well blended.  Chill for at least 1/2 hour.  Roll the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter.  Chill again for another 1/2 hour.   Heat chocolate candy chips according to package directions.  I just did it in the microwave.  Dip the peanut butter balls in the melted chocolate and let them cool on cookie sheet or wax paper.  Store in refrigerator or freezer.  Enjoy!

I love hot, spicy food!  The hotter the better.  My mom used to make this green pepper jam when I was younger, but I am not a huge fan of green peppers.  But I love hot peppers.  I finally asked her to find the recipe and decided to make a batch of freezer jam.  My sister gave me a bag of frozen hot red peppers and hot green peppers.  These were from her garden last fall.  Lucky for me, she did the dirty work last year and prechopped the peppers.  Unlucky for me, she did not remove the seeds before freezing.  And in my experience, the seeds are what give the peppers their heat.  The peppers I used were hotter than jalapeno peppers, but you could use jalapeno peppers or even plain green bell peppers.  I made two batches of jam, one with the hot red peppers and red bell peppers.  The other batch with the hot green peppers and green bell peppers.  I also made jelly and jam in each batch, jelly without the fruit and jam with the fruit.  To serve this, I drop an 8 oz slab of cream cheese on a plate and spoon about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the jam on top of the cream cheese.  Serve with crackers.  This is a great last minute gift that can be stored in the freezer until needed.  It’s great at Christmas time, because of the red and green colors.  And if you are in a fix for a quick snack to pass, just grab and go!  Enjoy!

Hot Pepper Jam

2 1/2 c. finely chopped peppers (bell, hot, jalapeno, etc)

1 1/2 c. white vinegar

2 drops green food coloring (or red if doing red peppers)

7 1/2 c. sugar

1 envelope pkg Certo (6 oz)

mix peppers, sugar, vinegar and food coloring in large pan and boil for 6 minutes.  add certo and boil another 3 minutes.  remove from heat and stir for another 4 minutes.  fill freezer containers and cover.  let sit on counter for 24 hours.  move to freezer and enjoy!

recipe from mom

boiling the mix

removing fruit for jelly

poured into containers and ready for the freezer