Makin' Mtn Dew Jelly

A couple of months ago I first heard about Mountain Dew Jelly on the radio. Someone had made it for her boyfriend and everyone else was making fun of her for it. And a spark went off in my head. I had to make it for David for Valentine's Day. He loves Mountain Dew. Well, Diet Mountain Dew. I got my Mountain Dew Jelly recipe from Group Recipes.

 

I've never made jelly before. I bought my little jar at Michael's and was just going to fill it with easy magical jelly. Apparently making jelly is not easy. You have to be careful so that you don't infect all of your family with botulism. Yum. I got all my supplies together. I made sure everything was disinfected before I began. Here's my process:
  
1. First, boil the mountain dew and lemon juice. Oops, no lemon juice. I'll try lime. Check. 
2. Next, add the pectin. Check. 
3. Used too small of a pot and have severe overflow. Check. 
4. Furiously scoop out rapidly boiling caustic solution. Check.
5. Boiling liquid spilling underneath the burner. Must clean that up later. Move to another burner since the liquid has killed the pilot light. Even more boiling over underneath the new burner. Check.
6. Ahhh...everything has calmed down. Now, I'm ready to scoop my "jelly" into my jar. Easy.
7. Next, I have to boil the finished and sealed jar in a canning pot. Oops, no canning pot. 
8. For the first time I use my extra giant soup pot. I googled it, it's fine. I gently ease my jelly jar into the pot of water and bring it to a boil. I boiled it for 10 minutes just to be safe. This is the stage that really matters if you don't want to send your family to the hospital.
9. Once the jar is done boiling, take it out. Uhhh...it's too heavy for my tongs. Burn finger in several attempts. You are really really dumb. Check.
10. Now hide jelly in the fridge behind something really old and gross that nobody wants so David won't find it before Valentine's day. Check. (David actually decided on Sunday that he would clean the fridge, so I had to kick him out.)
Bonus #11-Clean up now jelled jelly underneath entire stove top for 30 minutes. Check.

And after 24 hours of room temperature setting, I actually made jelly!

 Then, because I'm allowed to be overly cutesy on Valentine's Day with no judgment: I decorated the jar with scrapbook paper and ribbon.

And despite all my problems and the two hours and many burns it took to make this Mountain Dew Jelly, it was a success. And he loved it! I paired it with a sweet card filled with affection and a Firefly t-shirt and keychain to make the ultimate in geek gifts. The whole gift was a hit and I'm feeling pretty good today!