Pickled Jalapeno and Pickled Banana Peppers

The alternate title of this post? "An Ode to Our Pepper Plants."

It's those plants that have been producing like crazy, even as the tomato and cucumber plants took time to recuperate from a ferociously hot spell earlier this summer. Our pepper plants didn't seem fazed by it.

And so we've been taking those peppers, just banana and jalapenos, and using them in a couple of ways. We've cut them up and used them fresh, yes, but we've also pickled them.

Since this is our first year canning, we've chosen to use recipes instead of march out on our own. Next year, with a summer's work under our belts, we'll be able to adapt and wing it more.

Jalapenos, fresh from a waterbath canning.

We chose recipes from a canning book from Kerr, and they're straightforward. The banana peppers recipe involved a one-day brine before the canning process, while the jalapenos were topped with a mixture of vinegar, water, olive oil, salt and pickling spices.

What have you canned this summer?