As 2005 rolls to a close, I thought it’s be a good idea to take a look at all the things that have happened here on the HSB during the year.

The first post of 2005 can be found here – not much of a beginning for 2005 – at that time the blog was still hosted on the SNS domain.

Later that month we moved HSB to it’s own domain.

February was much more interesting with posts such as:
How to Make New Mexico Red Chili: A Step by Step Guide
Blair’s 3 A.M. – Taste Test
How to Make Hot Wings: A Step by Step Guide

In March we brought you to the Fiery Foods show:
How to make Guacamole: A Step by Step Guide
Sparx Chipotle Chocolate Chip Cookies
2005 Fiery Foods Show – Pictures here & here.
The only way I really enjoy spaghetti – Deadly style

April was a flurry of activity and fun in the springtime:
Pilarcita’s Carne Asada Marinade – rockin’ some tacos
Blair’s Mega Death: Taste & Heat Test
Manhattan Chili Co – sadly it’s now closed.

In May, we went international & the threat of divorce was quoted worldwide:
Black & Bleu Tenderloins – CAUTION: You may want to lick the screen.
Introducing – The Art of Chipotle
Blair’s Jersey Death Sauce
Hot Sauce Media Frenzy
Blair’s 16 Million Product Review – 94 comments to date.
Ring of Fire Shrimps

June brought some more creative ideas to kitchen:
Cayenne Peanut Butter Cookies
Living with a Hot Sauce Addict – The first post from the wife on HSB
New Favorite Hot Sauce

In July we reviewed some wonderful salsas, watched the world’s best eaters and cooked up one mean steak:
Frostbite Hot Sauce
Preserving Cilantro
Salsa de Rosa Fresh Salsas
The Ultimate Steak
Black Mamba Hot Sauce
Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest
Sparx Cookies

In August we brought in several new reviewers to expand our hot sauce taste buds:
Blair’s 2005 Halloween Reserves
Review: Big Daddy Jake’s Texas Pit Smoked Hot Sauce – Adam
Reviewing: Chef D Rocks Florida Swamp Water – Jim
Peppermaster Hurricane Mash – John
Purgatory Brand Alligator Alley Asphalt Sauce – Bill
How to Make Cincinnati Chili

TorchBearer Sauces hit the blog in September, along with more reviewers & hot sauce comics:
Hot Sauce Comic #1
DC Hot Trivia Question #1
ZestFest 2005 Winners!
Review: TorchBearer Sugar Fire Sauce
Hot Sauce Lover in a Black Pepper World
Review: Slaughter Sauce

October – A year older and none the wiser!
Chipotle Steaks
Review – Uncle Brutha’s Fire Sauce No. 9 – with thanks!
Pure Cayenne Gourmet Pepper Sauce
Blair’s Q Heat Wasabi Ginger Hot Sauce
Real Wasabi
Nick’s No Name Chili
Happy Birthday HSB!
BBG Chile Pepper Fiesta A Bust

We cooked up a bunch of tasty dishes in November:
Hot Sauce Blog Stats & Visitor Info
Playing With Fire
Review: Blair’s Q Heat Chipotle Slam Hot Sauce
Habanero Pepper Poppers
How To Make Buffalo Wings: A Step by Step Guide
Blair’s Le Million Reserve
Creamy Chorizo Fusilli Pasta

We performed Santa’s duties in Dec and brought you the collector’s corner:
Hot Sauce Collector’s Corner – Edition #3
Holiday Reserves Shipped!
Hot Sauce Collector’s Corner – Edition #2
How to Make Chile Verde
Hot Sauce Collector’s Corner – Edition #1
Cleaning Pennies with Hot Sauce
Catalogs are Complete – Finally!
Chipotle Garlic Chili
Blair’s 2005 Holiday Reserve – 155 comments!

A big thank you to all the readers and reviewers that have contributed to the HSB in 2005. Here’s to a HOT 2006!

After loving my first experience with Peppermaster’s fine Hurricane Mash, I was extremely excited to sample another of their offerings, Red Pepper Jelly.

Ingredients: Sugar, Apples, Fresh Chili Peppers, Spanish Onion, Vinegar, citric acid, apple pectin, spices

That’s a lot of sweet in the ingredients list! Clocking in at 5 out of 10 on their heat scale, I expected a little heat and a lot of sugary flavor.

On First Taste
The consistence is very jelly like, smooth, shiny and easy to spread. The apple flavor comes on strong with a lot of sweetness, and a mild heat comes on later. The big chunks of pepper in the sauce are a big plus. This is definitely a breakfast condiment, or anyplace else you’d use jelly. The jelly tastes fresh, like something homemade, and though the heat is low the flavor makes up for it.

On Food
I feel like this jelly would be the perfect compliment to some great potato pancakes. However, since I can’t make good potato pancakes for my life, and it’s a long way to the nearest good Polish restaurant, I decided to settle on a typical breakfast usage, a toasted roll.

The jelly went great with the bread. The apple flavor is really delicious, and the spices bring out a lot of additional flavor, though I can’t identify them precisely. This is a morning treat worth looking forward to. And I bet it would make one heck of a good spicy Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.

Conclusion:
Peppermaster’s Red Pepper Jelly came in with a big reputation to uphold, and stood in admirably. It’s a fine tasting condiment that’d be at home on any chilihead’s breakfast table, or used to add a touch of heat anywhere jelly is required.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10