Why buy a jar of pickled jalapenos at the grocery store when you can make a home-made batch with peppers plucked from plants on your patio?

Pickled jalapenos are a favorite food around here and I usually have a store-bought jar at the ready to add to panini sandwiches, to top a pizza or to sprinkle on Mexican food.

But since gardening this year has yielded such a good chile pepper crop, I decided to create my own easy recipe for pickled peppers.

I mixed the recipe for these refrigerator pickled jalapenos by starting with the ingredient list from the back of the jar sitting in the fridge–and then adding my own ideas. I experimented with the quantities until the pickling brine tasted just right.

Before you start, please save yourself some pain and slip on a pair of plastic or rubber gloves to protect your hands and eyes while working with fresh peppers.