A Disappearing Act: HPJ & Cream Cheese

Nanita's most famous crowd pleaser (foodwise, that is) is one of the easiest--and most popular--ways to serve hot peppah jelly. Place cream cheese on a plate, make a little moat on the top with a back of a spoon, then top with HPJ. Serve with crackers.

Instead of Honey...

Hot Peppah Jelly is a fabulous honey substitute. Nanita's always put a teeny bit in tea, which is especially wonderful when you're fighting a cold, so I've decided I'm going to experiment with other things.

I have a package of fairly lame blue corn pancake mix in the cupboard. Wanting to make it taste good (instead of like eating a field...in a bad way), I decided to change the recipe a bit, replacing the 2 teaspoons of honey with our jelly. Needless to say, yum! It added so much flavor I didn't need to add syrup or butter. Perhaps a healthier alternative?

KK's Easy Apple Cake

This wonderful cake is adapted from one of my hometown's Bicentennial cookbooks (hooray for Farm Women Group #8, Halifax, PA). I'm not the world's greatest baker--I like to play with ingredient amounts and usually mess up the chemistry of things in the process--but this is just about the easiest cake recipe I've ever seen. I added lots of additional spices...and it's fantastic with a little Peppah Jelly!

Easy Apple Cake

• 3 medium tart apples, diced
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• a dash of salt
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl--the moisture from the apples will help produce a thick batter. Spread into a 9x7–inch baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes.