We now have all our seeds for this summer’s garden. Husband told me last weekend he wants to grow 24 sweet peppers plants and 9 hot pepper plants. This alarmed me. I took him to the basement to show him that we currently have 30 pints of red chili pepper sauce in our freezers, made from a combo of both hot and sweet peppers. We use it in enchiladas and other Southwest dishes.
I asked him to imagine just how many peppers we could potentially harvest with 33 pepper plants. Last year we only had 15 plants. He assured me that he would use up most of the sauce in the freezer by the time the new peppers were ripe. He would bring extra fresh peppers to the Food Pantry next summer. I am doubtful. I remember churning out all that sauce last year, and I really don’t want to be making sauce all summer and fall. We renegotiated to 21 pepper plants. I still think we will have way too many peppers, but we shall see.
What do you have too much of? What is your favorite pepper dish? What are you growing in your garden this year? Any favorite sauce?
Trail Baboon 
I have too much of a lot right now. I’m not sure why – I didn’t do more than usual during pandemic but I seem to be behind in consuming for some reason? Not sure. I have a surplus of both my homemade jams (strawberry and raspberry), apple butter, tomatoes and even pesto. Who would have ever thought I could have too much pesto. I didn’t even think that was possible. Any thoughts about using some of this up? I enjoy the growing part of this, the production part of this. If I don’t grow basil and make pesto, or if I don’t go pick strawberries or apples, then I WILL feel badly. It’s a puzzlement.
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I always freeze some but don’t use it up very fast. I like it fresh in the summer. But I also like to add it to Italian sauces or spread it on sandwiches.
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There are a couple of jars of applesauce processed before the pandemic, and some pesto in the freezer from summer before last, I think.Other things (pear chutney, spiced tomato jam) we’re keeping up with pretty well.
I have too many journals to go through – mine and my mom’s. Too many of friend W’s boxes in the basement. Too many clothes… this could go on for a while.
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I have a recipe for a simple oatmeal bar that has a layer of jam in the middle. I often have a couple of jars of raspberry jam lying around that are kinda old and have darkened in color. It’s a good way to use those up. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25798/raspberry-oat-bars/
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VS, if you make this I recommend that you allow Baboons to sample an rate. I will need at least a dozen of them to adequately assess them. 😉
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YA might like these!!
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Looks excellent – I think I have some old rasp.jam like that… thank you.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I have a lot of frozen pesto in my freezer in MN, and I miss this very much. I bring canned jam and tomato soup to AZ with us, but the frozen pesto does not make the trip. Right now I don’t have too much of any kind of food here at the condo.
2022 garden: I am wondering how this garden will work given my need for a hip replacement when I get home. I can easily plant my cold frame, even on crutches, but transplanting to the big garden might be a challenge this year. My mother-daughter team down the street are both enrolled in the Master Gardener program this year. I might ask the daughter to help me transplant my stuff if I am needing help. Other than that I have not given my MN garden much thought yet.
I can’t say I have a favorite pepper dish, but I do like to roast my spicy peppers on the grill, peel them and freeze them for use all year.
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Good morning- I’ve had too much of cold and snow. I’m ready to be done.
What we have thought about this year’s garden is that It’s just easier To go to the farmers market or pick up things from the local place.
we may take a year off.
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The obvious: too much belly fat.
Less obvious: rolls of paper towels used as bottom liners for the aviary. Menard’s had a sale on 24 roll packs. Those two plus the others and I’m pooping good until September.
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My favorite pepper recipe is a paragraph from Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking about red peppers:
“A large number of red peppers is a beautiful sight. Even more beautiful is the sight of them cut into strips and ready to be simmered in a large pot of fruity olive oil. And of course, most magnificent of all is a large glass jar packed with fried peppers, studded with slivered garlic cloves, seasoned with salt, pepper, and the juice of half a lemon and covered with the olive oil they were fried in. Some people might call this Red Pepper Conserve, but it will always be red pepper sludge to me.”
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I was kinda hoping that maybe one or two local baboons might chirp up and say “VS… you can always unload a jar or two on me”…….
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We still have a surplus of pesto as well. We add it to pasta sauce and soups, of course, but one of our main uses is a kind of pizza we make when we’ve been out and are pressed for time:
Starting with the frozen naan from Trader Joe’s, I spread them with pesto, then sprinkle them with grated parmesan ( we don’t put parmesan in the pesto when we make it), then top with thin sliced tomatoes (usually roma). On top of that goes shredded mozzarella and we add pepperoni but you could add anything you want at ant stage of the assembly. I sprinkle the pepperoni with a little more parmesan.
Robin likes it better than a conventional crust and regardless, the naan makes a very acceptable base.
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I’m another one with too much pesto. I made a lot of it last summer and couldn’t eat it all fresh so I froze some. I will use it up. I love it.
I made some granola bars with muesli last week and I made too much. They’re going slowly. They got a little hard.
Yesterday I made vomacka using a recipe from Chef John Schumacher. It turned out so good. But… I made too much!
I agree with Ben’s thoughts on a garden this year. Mine is already much smaller than it used to be. I will grow some sweet and hot peppers, basil, grape tomatoes, parsley, chives, marigolds, and hopefully nasturtiums. I wanted nasturtiums last year and couldn’t find any. I’ll start early this year. I need flowers that can tolerate high heat because my deck really heats up.
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Too many distractions. Too many old pairs of jeans and khakis.
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Nice!
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