It’s pickling time, no it doesn’t mean the great weather is over, but it does mean that our gardens and markets are filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.  Take advantage of this and try your hand at canning.  I don’t have a huge spice tolerance, but Mr. Handy can eat the hottest peppers in the world and barely flinch, so I started early in our marriage with this easy canning recipe.  I used to add all kinds of spices to it, but over the years I have discovered it’s not necessary.

Be careful while cutting up the peppers.  What ever you do… Do not touch your eyes, your lips, your face while cutting these Jalapeños into the slices.  The heat will stay with you for longer than you can imagine.  I have learned this the hard way. GLOVES ARE REQUIRED!!  

Don’t worry the finished results are worth the risk of your eye burning out of its socket for what seems like days if you disregard my instructions.. 😉

4.  Place the funnel over the sterilized jars and fill with the jalapeño pepper slices.  Slightly pack in but not too hard.  There is no need to remove the insides and seeds of the peppers.  They will add to the heat!  Did you know that the hottest part of a pepper is not the pepper or the seeds?  It’s actually the white fleshy material found inside the pepper just under the stem.  This pepper placenta holds the seeds and is filled with capsaicin which gives us that heat and spice.  So leave it in as this is what makes these pickled jalapeno peppers extra Caliente!
5.  Add the vinegar, sugar, and water to stock pot and bring to a boil
6.  Add the cumin ground or whole.  Ground spices can make your vinegar solution cloudy if you are adding lots of other ground spices.  But there is not enough in this recipe to allow that to happen.
7.  Add the cloves of whole garlic and salt to the jar.8.  Fill the jars within 1″ of the rim with the vinegar stock.  Place the cleaned cover on and close until finger grip tight.
9.  Place the filled jars into the water bath canner or pressure canner.  15 minutes in water bath and 10 minutes in pressure canner.  Remove from heat and place on a clean dish towel to cool.  You may hear a popping sound this is the sound the rubber lid makes when it has popped inward.  Any jars that have not sealed will need to be stored in the refrigerator.
For best taste I recommend that you wait a couple of weeks for the flavours to meld together.  I love to label my jars, these I purchased online from Evermine Custom Labels.  I always have an Edible DIY Gifts on hand.  I made my own for years, however I love these waterproof labels as the print does not wear off.

The canning guidelines I have outlined here have proven successful canning results for me.  If this is your first time canning you should check out these guidelines for boiling water canning or the guidelines in your area.