When I planted mint between my front yard and driveway, I was told I was crazy.  It would take over and I’d have mint everywhere.  Well, crazy or not, that was exactly my intention.  I have a huge mass of the stuff every year and it smells wonderful.  A pleasant side effect is that with the abundance of mint I have I can play with it as much as I like.

I can dill garlic every year in late August or early September, because that’s when fresh dill is available.  We give it out as Christmas gifts to anyone we know that wants some – and I’m up to about five dozen jars.  Whew.

When my daughter helps me, we usually end up making some jelly or jam as well.  We’ve make mint before, but this year we decided to change it up a bit and make some reminiscent of a mint mojito.  If you’re not familiar, it’s a drink flavored with mint and lime.  You can’t go wrong with lime.

Mint Mojito Jelly

• 2 cups fresh mint leaves
• 8 cups water

Bruise mint leaves a bit with a fork or by twisting.  Add to the water in a saucepan.  Boil over high heat until reduced by half to 4 cups of liquid.  Mine took about 20 minutes.  And my house smelled fantastic.

Strain.  Discard the leaves.  To the water, add:

• one box powdered pectin

Stir until dissolved.  Add:

• 4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup fresh lime juice

Bring to a boil.  Boil one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and skim foam if necessary.

If you’d like a greener color, add a couple of drops of green food coloring.

Ladle into sterilized jars.  Process 5 minutes in a boiling water canner.

This makes about 8 pints.  Thinking ahead, these would make a great Christmas gift, decorated with a little festive red ribbon. Oh yeah, it’s coming.

Who knew Mint Mojito was good with peanut butter?