Sweet Heat

It's 1:04am on a weekday and here I find myself squinting at the glaringly bright screen in a pitch dark room, writing up a quick post. Work and other social obligations (mostly self inflicted) have taken over my life recently and there's no relaxation in the foreseeable future. On days like these, it's good to have something stored in the fridge to fix up a quick meal. It's even better if it's the most important meal of the day - breakfast!

Look at that gorgeous color - isn't it pretty??

When you are lucky, you'll make yourself a hearty breakfast of eggs and toast, maybe some potatoes, fruits or cereal-milk. But when breakfast means grabbing a slice of bread and skillfully managing to eat and not drop any crumbs while driving to work, I like to have some yummy jam on hand. A delicious jam transforms a simple slice of bread to a wonderful sandwich we all wanted for breakfast as kids. My mom usually made us healthy breakfast from scratch every day, but bread and jam or a roll of jam smeared poli/roti(Indian bread) was a welcomed change. 

Remember I stocked up on a whole lot of strawberries at the Carlsbad farmer's market? Well, don't think I forgot all about them after. I did make a yummy jam out of them the way we liked it as kids, with a grown-up twist! The jam has all that goodness from sweet strawberries, but it surprises you with a hint of heat from jalapeno at the end. I love the combination of sweet & heat which makes this jam perfect for grown-ups. This was prepared upon hubby's request and he's been eating it by the spoonfuls. The jam has definitely turned 'good' mornings to 'better' :).



Sorry about the picture quality here. Just when I thought I was making some progress in taking good pictures, I have to post these less than impressive ones. I'll blame it on the recent madness!

Strawberry-Jalapeno Jam

Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups crushed strawberries
2-2 1/2 Cups white sugar
1 Jalapeno

• Crush fresh strawberries. I just tossed them in the food processor and gave a quick pulse. Leave them slightly chunky. 
• Combine sugar and crushed strawberries on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Strawberries give out a lot of water so the cooking time is a bit longer than other berries. 
• Add 1 finely chopped jalapeno (without the seeds and vein) and cook on medium-high heat for another 20 minutes or until you achieve the desired consistency. Keep stirring occasionally.