Pickling Jalapenos

I could not find a recipe to follow to pickle jalapenos, so I borrowed one from Travis's aunt, Karen. Jalapenos might have been my favorite to can mainly just because they look so good in the jar!

Wash the jalapenos. Ours were all sandy from the garden.

Cut two small slits in the pepper. This is to let the pickling solution into the cavity. Be careful when doing this; if you get the juice on your hands and then rub your eyes, you'll be in for an unpleasant day.

Pack the jalapenos into jars with a clove of garlic. I had both green and red peppers (more green than red), so I made sure to pack a few red around the edge of the jar. I think that pint jars work much better for jalapenos. It is easier to pack into a pint jar (I bought wide-mouth pints for this and my hand fits into the jar much easier) and, unless you eat jalapenos all of the time, you won't use a quart up fast enough.

Pack in your mix of spices. My recipe called for celery salt, mustard seed, coriander, and cumin. I mixed equal parts of the spices, enough for 1 teaspoon of mix per jar.

For the liquid, bring 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup olive oil (I used extra virgin, it's what I have on hand), and 1 teaspoon of pickling salt to a boil. Fill the jars with the liquid, leaving 1/4-1/2 inch of headspace. Remove the air bubbles and place the lids on the jar then screw on the rings.

Load into your pot and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove and cool. After they have cooled, check your jars to make sure they have sealed. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place. If you had any jars that did not seal, put them in the fridge.

I had good luck and all of my jars sealed. I just love the way they turned out!