Pickled Spicy Banana Peppers

I love pickled spicy peppers!
I was introduced to canning last summer, when i had more vegetables and fruits from my garden as I could consume. A visit to our Aunt's Eloise Farlow got me in pretty good shape. She has the greenest thumb I have ever seen and loves to share her garden deliciousness with the ones in need.
I had always been afraid of canning simply for the fact that if you don't do it right you can get very sick or worse. But she made everything seem so simple, I wish everyone that wanted to learn how to can would take a trip to see her. A truly amazing woman!
I'm only doing 1 jar of banana peppers since i only had about 10 peppers this week.

Ingredients for 1 quart jar:
10 banana peppers sliced to 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1 3/4 cup of water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of salt
1 whole garlic clove
5-10 peppercorns (optional)
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 teaspoon of sugar

In a saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil and cook them for 3 minutes.

Sterilize your jar, lid and rim. Pour all ingredients into jar leaving a 1/4 inch head space. Run a clean plastic knife or small spatula inside bottle around the edges to get rid of any air bubbles. With a clean paper towel make sure the rim of the jar is clean and dry. Close the jar tightly and place in a large pot with enough water to cover the jar. (Place a small dish towel on bottom of the pan to hold jar in place).

Bring water to a boil and let it boil for 15 minutes. Remove jar from water and let it sit out for 24 hours. You should be able to see the top slightly caved in to make sure it's air tight.
This will last at least 1 year in your pantry.