The other day, I bought a lot of fresh jalapenos…I only needed one for a recipe, but my grocery store was selling two pounds of them for about $1.75 – which is an awesome deal! With the rest that I wasn’t going to use fresh, I decided to pickle them.

I did the smart thing and put on disposable plastic gloves for the handling of the peppers. I made sure to keep them on while slicing and packing them into the jars. I wanted to be sure that I didn’t get the pepper’s oil on the skin of my hands and accidentally rub my face or eyes – which would result in a lot pain.

After pouring in the pickling liquid and closing up the jars, I was pleased that I managed to avoid harming myself…

Until I rubbed my eye…

And as the burning sensation blinded me, I realized that I forgot to wipe down the jars that I had handled with the peppery gloves before handling them with my bare hands.

Smart move, Pixie.

I staggered around the kitchen and managed to get to the fridge. I pulled out a carton of milk. When you eat something too spicy, you use dairy to cool it down…So, in theory, my plan should work…

I doused a paper towel with the milk before wiping at my eyes. Success! That helped get rid of the burn and pain.

So the next time you handle a hot pepper and accidentally mace yourself in the freshest way possible, try wiping your eyes/face with a milk soaked paper towel to soothe the burn.

Or remember to wipe down the jars before touching them with your bare hands.