Honey and Lemon Jelly

My niece made some of this earlier this year and brought it to a family gathering.  Everyone loved it on fresh hot biscuits, but I can also imagine it on toast, cornbread, plain yogurt or with some fresh goat cheese. It's clean and refreshing, a delicious, classic combination. This recipe is all over on the Internet, but I found mine on Food.com. It's funny, you never really think of jelly made with anything but sugar, so just using honey is cool.

I had a bit of a mishap making this, so here's my advice; do not turn your back on the honey mixture when it's on the stove.  I turned my back to send a friend a text and my pot started to boil over.  Yikes, honey is more bubbly than you think and it makes a bit fat mess all over your stove.  If you pay more attention than I did, you will be fine.

This makes a great holiday gift, or something fun to bring as a hostess gift.

I bought the super big jug of honey at Costco, so I will probably make more jelly with this with some other variations:

• Add some fresh thyme to the honey and lemon mixture
• Use fresh grapefruit juice and rind (or tangerine or lime...)
• Use a combination of lemons and limes
• Add grated ginger and apple juice or ginger simple syrup

Makes 4 - 1 cup jars

5 -6 lemons (3/4 cup)
4 tsp lemon zest

2 1/2 cups honey

1 (3 ounce) package liquid pectin

Directions:

Grate rind from enough lemon zest to measure 4 teaspoons, set aside.

Squeeze juice from enough lemons to measure 3/4 cup, pour lemon through a wire mesh strainer, discarding seeds and pulp.

Combine rind, juice, and honey in a 6 quart saucepan, stirring well.

Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in pectin. Return mixture to a rolling boil and boil constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon.

Pour jelly into hot and sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top and wipe jar rims well. Cover with metal lids and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Makes 4 half pints.