Pickling a Peck of Peppers

My hoop house produced a bumper crop of peppers: Hinklehatz, Serrano, poblano, jalapeño, paprika, Pick Me Quick sweet pepper.  Such a myriad of shapes and flavors, most of them hot!

After using lots in salsa, and peach jalapeño jam, and diced into various delicious things, I still had a basket full on the kitchen table.  First step: to separate them.  All the teeny ones (mostly Hinkelhatz, an Amish heirloom variety meaning "chicken hearts") into one pile and kept whole, and the others sliced into little rounds.

After boiling a simple pickling solution of cider vinegar, water, and crushed garlic cloves, it was a simple matter for packing jars, covering the peppers with brine, and processing for 15 minutes in a hot water bath.

I think these will make great pantry stash items, as well as gifts for friends who really like hot peppers!