Jalapeño Booster

This season it was a special treat to celebrate the arrival of the jalapeño blossoms with a ceremony to honor Tlaloc, the ancient Aztec god of the rain, earthly fertility and water during the blood moon that occurred earlier last month. It was much simpler than the ritual for Tonacatecuhtli as no Vestal Virgins were required. And legend says that because of the lunar event, the peppers should be especially spicy.

Orale! It's National Fajita Day!

Damas y caballeros(ladies and gentlemen), this is the official day to celebrate one of the most popular products of Tex-Mex cuisine, the fajita. 

And if you're like me, nothing goes better with Tex-Mex meals than the heat provided by jalapeños. They are just one of the many types of peppers that have been cultivated for thousands of years. They are a must have in my container garden and easy to grow. And the larger your container, the larger the plant will grow. But even something as small as a one quart container/pot will do. So do yourself a favor and make sure to include a pot or two of flavor enlivening jalapeños in your container garden.

Back From Death's Door

This banana pepper plant spent the winter perched on the sill of a south facing window. All seemed to be going well until just before I was about to put it outside. I noticed the leaves were changing and falling off. Turns out that some very small insects were attacking it. I took it outside anyway and thought about throwing it away. I found some organic insecticide and sprayed it, but it still looked as though it was at death's door. I decided to put it aside and see what would happen.

As it turns out, Mother Nature was more than happy to lend some help in reviving her creation after it had been given an assist in fending off its attackers. It now looks like it was never in any danger at all. Amazing!

Pepper Mystery Solved

Well, it turns out that my mystery pepper seeds were jalapenos after all.

And I Almost Forgot...

While I was waxing poetic about the myriad ways in which banana peppers could be eaten and used in an earlier post, I forgot to mention that they can also be pickled. How careless of me!

The Last Hot Kiss Of Summer

I knew it had to happen and I knew I'd be dismayed.

For today I had to face the fact.

That my last homegrown jalapeño had to be chopped and sauteed.