The heat has taken down just about everything in the garden - except a few Seminole pumpkins, the roselle (Jamaican sorrel), eggplant, and peppers. The peppers, in particular, are thriving. We have sweet bell peppers and cayenne, and we were also gifted by a quart of jalapenos from the farmers market.

So I got to pickle peppers. Now that I have gotten used to the sterilization process and done a little pressure canning, water-bath canning seems almost routine. It only took a little over an hour start to finish with the pickled jalapenos - making a brine while sterilizing the jars in the canner, packing the jars with the sliced peppers (wear gloves if you do this; trust me), pouring over the syrup, tightening the lids and processing for ten minutes. They're pretty on the shelf and will give a nice zip to chili and other bean soups and maybe even fall football game nachos.

I also made some more "pepper sauce" my grandmother's way, but with some jars that will be more useable for guests. With a mix of green, orange, and red peppers they look beautiful. And after a week in the fridge, they're already plenty hot for me. These are the traditional accompaniment to greens which we are sure to have a lot of once it cools down.