This is the story of how the peppers got their name!
OceansEdg and DrFreud came to visit Samhain '98. After celebrating with a walk in the woods, and listening to all of the spirits run free; OceansEdg and I went back to the house, for a feast of wild game, while DrFreud banged away on his laptop ( that's another story ).. At any rate, she and I went back outside and lit a fire and celebrated under the stars, sipping at a nice Iced Wine and talking into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning they began to pack to go on their merry way, when I gave each one a jar of either peppers or spaghetti sauce. Ocean tucked her jar of sauce away in her bags.
They drove back up north in total silence, just looking out of their windows, admiring the brightly colored trees & enjoying the sites.
As they entered Customs, the guard asked if they had anything to declare... OceansEdg shook her head ( she wasn't about to give up her sauce not even to the border guards! )
DrFreud looked up at the guard & smiled to himself, "Yes, I do have something to declare, some Pickled Peppers that a Pagan Priestess Picked & packed into pint jars!"
The guard was surprised as was OceansEdg, they all had a good chuckle and drove away.
(I suggest using gloves if peppers are hot)
Wash peppers in cold water, removing stems, and seeds, & cut into 1/4" slices
Brine: pour appx 3 quarts of water, in medium-sized cauldron, add
salt-(3 tablespoons)
add all of the ingredients except peppers
bring to boil (a VIGOROUS boil)
pack jars with peppers
pour hot brine over peppers in jars, and seal
-while jars are hot, place in large cauldron, pour fresh water over jars, just over the tops-
boil for 1-5 min's over a medium flame.
Wait appx 3weeks to a month before using.
By the way, no one had to show their jars of goodies, but it's nice to know that the border guards missed out on such a nice yummy gift!
