Thursday, October 15, 2015

Jalapeno!



So we had a good jalapeno harvest this year.  That is one thing I usually grow well.  I love that it worked out perfect. When I started to can this year I looked and we were down to our last jar from last year!  Awesome... So here is how I do it.

 

First gather all your peppers.  Now I use this same recipe to pickle all my peppers.  I have jalapenos and some red sweet peppers this year and I just mixed them all together.  I like having jars with both spicy and not so spice peppers. 
I like mine to be in rings so I slice them up.  Or if you want whole peppers just cut a slit in each side.
Next sterilize all your jars and lids. 
For our pickling solution you will need to mix 10 cups white vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes. 
 
Now that everything's ready fill your jars with peppers.  I use whatever size I feel like.  Usually pints and quarts as we go though peppers quite a bit. 
 
   Ok so I can't pour and take a steady picture at the same time but you get the idea.  Pour your hot pickling solution over the peppers leaving 1/4" head space. 
Run a spatula or knife around the jar to remove air bubbles.  Put the lids on and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (or longer if you live above 1000 feet altitude. Click Here)
And Voila....
You now have canned jalapenos!
I've used this recipe for years and I've read more of them and had one that called for soaking the peppers in a salt brine for 12 hours first. This is supposed to keep the peppers crunchy and help retain the color.  I've done it both ways and I couldn't tell the difference between the jars that had been soaked and ones that weren't so I stopped doing this step altogether. 
Happy canning!!
 
 

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Fall is here!

So No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Yet. :)  We have been busy!  Most days I feel like I am just trying to stay above water.  I took on a second part time job at the end of summer here.  But it is seasonal and will end this month.  School is back in session at our house and that takes up a good portion of each day.   Super D got the Chevelle put together and it is in driving condition.

 
Super D has done an amazing job at getting this up and running.  It is a fun car.  That man didn't even make it through the first weekend of it running well before he bought the next project car. The next one will be neat so we will see how that works.  We have lots going on around here it seems.
 
The garden has pretty well this year.  I got a great pepper harvest and some tomatoes.  We had so much rain at the beginning of the season that tomatoes didn't do well.  They were just splitting and rotting before they could ripen. But as we have moved in to fall they are doing decent. I expect the first frost to shut down the rest of the garden any day now.  Next post will be how I canned my jalapenos.