I LOVE PEPPER JELLY, a Southern staple frequently paired with cream cheese and crackers, but I’d never made it myself. Every time I saw a jar, I’d buy or trade for it, but every recipe I’d ever seen used pectin. My gustatory feelings about pectin aside, I’m just not very good at using it — often I can’t get the right set, even when I follow instructions to a tee. (Maybe pectin is punishing me?) Finally, though, a client asked whether I could make some pepper jam, so I started experimenting with natural pectin boosters. First, I threw in a few apples, and then I saw a very old recipe in a vintage Time Life preserving book that used quartered lemons. Bingo! The result isn’t quite the same as the pepper jellies you might know — it’s a little looser, a little chunkier — but it’s absolutely incredible with cream cheese and crackers. And biscuits, too!