The only advice I will give you is that you have to harden them off first before putting them back outdoors. Get them used to the sun and wind and outdoors gradually, starting with 15 minutes of sun the first day and increasing it over two weeks. You have to wait till after May 15 or 30 depending on your zone (like how far upstate are you?) because peppers like it warm. If you're planting it in the ground, then yes, you should remove all flowers and fruit first so the plant can grow roots.

You will get more answers if you post on the vegetable forum.

I learned the hard way... I started a bunch of seedlings indoors... I decided to move them all outside and I gave them full sun for a 4-6 hours and shade the rest of the day. The leaves are turning white on most seedlings from sunburn. I'm going to piggyback my question off yours, Now that my plants have been outdoors for over a week with atleast 5 hours of sun and the rest of day and night in the shade, will new leaves grow or should I move them into full shade or what should I do? Some pepper plants look okay, others are almost completely white.... and the chili I started from seed in November and has about 6 chillies on it is starting to lose white leaves.... Any recommendations? From my experience, the younger seedlings which are about 1-2 months old are doing okay with minimal sunburn, my older peppers which go from 3-5months are not so good.... some are 80%white, others are 50% white. I don't want to lose any plants so I was hoping they'd shed the white leaves and grow new leave.

Thanks for all the input thus far, maybe I should have been a little more clear. These are not new seedlings, these are plants that have been out doors the previous season. I've grown pepper plants in the past, but I have never brought them inside during the winter months.