Pickled Carrots

Run out of ideas for carrots? Yeah I get that way too. A person can only dehydrate, freeze, make jam, and pressure can so many... so why not try pickling some? These stay quite "snappy" in the jar even after hot packing and processing. Depending on what kind of peppers you use, you can make them hot, flaming hot, or just mild (I'm a mild person, Hubby is not). This year I didn't have jalapenos so I used cayenne peppers instead. I didn't really think cayenne peppers were that hot... something I quickly changed my mind about because for the next three solid days both my thumbnails burned! That wasn't near as bad as my lips, chin, and even under my nose! I guess I must have rubbed my face while chopping and the next thing I'm on fire! I tried milk, tomato juice, olive oil, rubbing alcohol,... all the suggestions online I could find... no relief. Out of shear desperation I grabbed polysporin cream... ahhhh after about 10 minutes, relief. Quite the shiny face for the day but when one has flames protruding off their face one does not care about glamour. I find it quite comical to be desperately searching for some kind of remedy and nine out of ten sites suggest wearing gloves... "it's a little late guys, what can I do now?"

Pickled Carrots
Feel free to substitute the peppers for whatever kind you have. In the above picture I used cayenne peppers instead of jalapenos, I also used yellow and orange peppers along with the green. And I never really measure the peppers, I just chop a bit of peppers and mix up in a bowl.

Oh, by the way, I only used two cayenne peppers, finely chopped... but wear gloves :)

11 cups carrots, julienned
6 teaspoons dried oregano
4 teaspoons red pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons green pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons jalapenos, finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
5 cups white vinegar
1 2/3 cups white sugar
1 2/3 cups water
4 teaspoons pickling (coarse) salt

Combine peppers and garlic and set aside. Prepare pickling liquid -combine vinegar, sugar, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, return to a boil and boil for 2 minutes.
Prepare 6 pint jars. Place 5 teaspoons of pepper & garlic mix, and 1 teaspoon of dried oregano leaves into each jar. Pack in hot carrots (rubber gloves work great for handling the hot carrots) and add liquid leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.