That’s One Hot Dog!
The longer the tongue the hotter the dog!
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In the Limelight
One of my favorite plants is the ‘Limelight’ hydrangea. I’ve confessed my love of all flowers green before. I bought this shrub as a tiny stick from a mail order nursery several years ago. It’s now taller than I am and blooms beautifully every year. One great thing about this hydrangea is that it blooms late summer through the fall, which is nice since many other flowers are fading at this time.
The blooms on ‘Limelight’ hydrangeas come out green then slowly change to white then to pink in the fall. I leave the blooms on mine till the following spring, they add some interest to garden in winter.
If you’re looking for dried hydrangea blooms, this plant makes the prettiest one. I’m not one to have dried flowers in the house, but I’ve dried some for friends. Depending on when you pick them they dry green or pink.
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A Peck of Pickled Peppers?
I was at a local farm buying peaches 2 weeks ago and they had banana peppers for 6 for $1. Since Mr Chiots and a friend LOVE hot peppers on their pizza, I decided to buy some and try my hand a pickling them. I looked up a few recipes and finally settled on a combination of 2.
So do they pass the test? Yes, Mr Chiots had some on pizza the other day and loved them. So I guess next year I’ll be growing banana peppers (good thing I saved some seeds) and pickling them for a years’ worth of pizza toppings.
Here’s the Recipe I used:
PICKLED HOT PEPPERS
1 1/2 lb of banana peppers
6 cups vinegar
2 cups water
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon non-iodized salt (kosher or pickling salt)
Cut peppers into 1/2 inch pieces. Combine vinegar, water, garlic & salt in a large sauce pot. Bring mixture to a boil: reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, remove garlic. Pack peppers into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Ladle hot pickling liquid over peppers, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Remove air bubbles (by running knife around jar edges). Adjust 2 piece caps, process 10-minutes in boiling water canner.
If you don’t want to process your peppers you can just keep them in the fridge. Since I was only doing half a batch this is what I did, they’ll be eaten up quickly around here.
Anyone out there have a pickled hot pepper recipe they love?
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Eggplants in Bloom
I started some eggplant seeds this year. They are finicky plants for sure. Mine languished in the cool of the spring and finally took hold. I noticed the other day that it’s blooming. What beautiful blooms it has. Mr Chiot’s and I don’t really like eggplant, but we eat some at least once a year, I figured I would try to grow some this year (perhaps we’ll like it more).
Anyone out there have a good eggplant recipe for non-eggplant lovers? I’m thinking veggie lasagne.
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Sunbathing: Curing Onions
I harvested all of my onions. They aren’t very big, that seems to be the theme of my vegetables this year. Oh well, we’ll call them shallots (more hoity-toity). This year I started red onions from seeds (they did the best, the biggest nicest onions). I also started yellow onions from sets. They’re all pretty small, I’m wondering if I can save some for sets next year?
So how do you know when to pick your onions? When the tops flop over, simple as that. When you notice they’ve flopped leave them in the ground for about 10 days. Then pull them and leave them in the sun for a day or two. Next, move them to a sheltered spot for a week or two to finish drying (turn them once a day to make sure all parts dry). Make sure you give them room to breath, I dry mine on my compost sifter in the garage, works perfectly. When they’re fully dry, pick out any thick-necked or soft bulbs and use them first. They are ready to store when the skins rattle and the roots are dry and wiry.
Anyone else have onion curing tips?
