no more excuses; how to properly spell jalapeño using my Mac

Writing composition

How To Make Spanish Accents and Punctuation With a Mac

Consecutively pressed:    
    á    Option + e, a
    Á    Option + e, Shift + a
    é    Option + e, e
    É    Option + e, Shift + e
    í    Option + e, i
    Í    Option + e, Shift + i
    ñ    Option + n, n
    Ñ    Option + n, Shift + n
    ó    Option + e, o
    Ó    Option + e, Shift + o
    ú    Option + e, u
    Ú    Option + e, Shift + u
    ü    Option + u, u
    Ü    Option + u, Shift + u

Simulatneously pressed:
    inverted question mark (¿)        Shift + Option + ?
    inverted exclamation point (¡)    Option + 1
    left angle quote («)              Option + \
    right angle quote (»)             Shift + Option + \
    quotation dash ( — )              Shift + Option + -

http://spanish.about.com/od/writtenspanish/a/diacritical_mac.htm