Every few years, I can just a few jars of pickled jalapeño peppers. I have some teeny, tiny jars I use for this purpose. Today, I went up to my sister’s house and picked her jalapeño peppers, since the pathetic crop I got has mostly been used when I made salsa the other day. Last time, the directions were simple. Put peppers in jars. Cover with vinegar. Can. The recipe I found this year was a little more complicated, as in mix vinegar, water and salt, pour over, can for 10 minutes in a hot water bath canner. It still was mostly vinegar. When I use them, it doesn’t seem to matter that they’ve been canned in vinegar. I just fish out the peppers and add them to whatever I want to spice up.
I only use them for a few things, so these 8 jars will easily be enough for the year. In the past, I have added one small jar to a large pot of chili that needed a little zip. Another time, I’ve used them to heat up salsa if I was making a small batch. Another thing I do is to add one small jar to a large pot of beans when I’m making refried beans, especially if I’m out of peppers I have frozen or in a big hurry. There have been a few other things that escape me that I’ve done with them.
I’m happy and thankful that my sister shared, as this was the year I ran out after not doing it for a year or two. Some years, the jalapeños are so loaded. Not this year for either one of us. It was great to get a few to spice up our winter!
I added both Serranos and Jalepenos to the pickles I made this morning, along with some red pepper flakes. They ought to be spicy and zippy! This batch has the most peppers in it than any I have made so far. Every time I think those cucumbers are done, they give me a few more.
The beans also surprised me by giving me quite a few yellow and green beans. They were supposed to be done, but I didn’t get the vines pulled, and they re-bloomed, and the rest is history. I froze them tonight.
Tomorrow, we have several doctor’s appointments. Before and after those, I have some tomatoes I need to deal with. My sister sent a bunch home, and I have those I picked a couple of days ago. I’m still not where I want to be with tomatoes, so I’m delighted to have them. I don’t think I’ll grow the San Marzano Gigantic-a again, though. They are late to ripen, and are cracking and molding easily with this little bit of rain we have had. Maybe they will taste so good it will be worth it, but I’m not sure. I’ll decide next winter:). In the meanwhile, there are those, some Willamettes and some Glaciers still chugging along, and I’m getting a bowlful every few days. When I add contributions from my aunt and sister, I think I’ll soon be where I want to be. When you think that there are 52 weeks in a year, and I use tomatoes at least once a week in cooking, often more if you count salsa and other products I make, well, you see what is motivating me to keep scrounging them up!
Your pickles look so pretty!
~Have a lovely day!
Thank you!
More canning, yea!
My favorite tomato was “Early Cascade” by Territorial Seeds. They don’t sell it anymore which was such a disappointment. It was a small slicing tomato – bigger then a cherry but much smaller then a full size tomato. Did great in Seattle and here. I haven’t found a good replacement yet so might follow your lead.
I grew bigger ones this year since I bought a plant at the sale the local horticulture club was having. But just as the tomatoes were getting ripe, they also split. Overnight they went from ‘no where near ripe’ to yuck.
Cheers.
The Glacier is from Territorial, as well. It, also, is a very early, but very small tomato. There are some that are smaller than my Chocolate Cherry tomatoes:). That’s why when I was running short for a whole batch of salsa the other day, I just used about 5-6 cups of the cherry ones. I figured it wasn’t going to be that much work to peel them all, after working with the Glaciers! But, they are so early, it’s nice to grow them. Funny thing–they usually produce and die, but this year–another small crop has formed. It’s been an odd year for tomatoes, but I’m not complaining about more!
I’m sorry you are short on tomatoes, hopefully it will come together for you. Ours have gone crazy, which I’m thankful for, and still going. I’ve made salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and tomato juice. Our beans did awesome too. I canned 50 quarts & 17 pints of green beans. We planted yellow wax beans for the first time this year to make 4 bean salad. My husband loves this with green & yellow beans, chickpeas & kidney beans in a vinegar (etc) base. I got so many that I canned it 3 times. First 2 it was four times the recipe, third time was 5X the recipe. I lost track of how many jars I’ve canned of the 4 bean salad! My husband travels with work so he has been taking a jar with him in his cooler, along with Home canned fruit. Sometimes he’s in rural areas where there’s no restaurants nearby at lunchtime. Our peppers, however didn’t do anything. I was so disappointed. But I have a few jalapeños I bought he wants me to can them in “bread & butter” mix. I had extra liquid year before last when making pickles and didn’t want to waste it so we put whatever we had in, and when he tried it he loved it. I have bought several sweet bell peppers at the Amish market in the next county and chopped them up for the freezer to use all year, so we are still ok. I have enjoyed seeing all your jars in the pantry, keep up the good work!!…..Vicky in Ky
You are doing great on your canning! I wish I could see a picture of what you’ve done–it’s always so pretty:). It is great that you can make something your husband really likes for his days on the road–it’s win-win: Saving money, and making him happy:)
I think I’ll be fine on tomatoes in the end, it just takes a while to do them when they limp along like this and it’s a bunch of small batches instead of a few big batches. I did get 10 more pints this morning, so that’s a help.
I don’t think I will have enough tomatoes this year either. I am still getting some but not enough for as much as I would like. It was a weird summer weather wise. When we start going to the farms apple picking I usually see them cheap. I may pick up a bushel or two. We never seem to have enough. The cucumbers are still growing. I keep picking them and we keep eating them. I still have dozens of tabasco peppers on my plant. Just waiting for them to turn orange. Have fun canning. It has cooled off her so it is much more enjoyable. Hope you cooled down too.
Yes, it has cooled down, which is wonderful! I just keep accepting a few tomatoes here, and a few there, from Kindly relatives, and so may end up with enough in the end. I sure hope so:)