Hot Chilli Peppers

It all started with the purchase of a pack of “fresh” hot peppers, on sale, 1/2 price. Who am I to pass up a bargain? Besides there’s all those tomatoes ripening upstairs and salsa is on the canning agenda. But, in the mean time there’s that BBQ sauce recipe that calls for 2 jalapeños… (The package said Thai peppers, I assumed a hot pepper is a hot pepper…?)

I found out when making my spaghetti sauce that reducing the abundant liquid found in tomatoes requires at least twice the time the recipe is willing to admit. The spaghetti sauce recipe I used called for 25 lbs of tomatoes and said simmer for 6 hours, stirring every 15 minutes (yes, really, every 15 minutes!). It was super runny after the first 6 hours. 

Reducing the BBQ sauce to the desired thickness took three days, including shoving the whole works through a sieve and blending it with my hand blender. I also added 3 times the amount of sugar the recipe called for to alleviate some of the heat produced by 2 wee jalapeños! Twelve pounds of tomatoes yielded 3 pints of super zinger BBQ sauce. I might tuck this recipe in the back of the book, with some warning notes.

And then there’s the small pot of chilli I made - to use up some of those tomatoes…and chilli peppers.

“Hmmm,” I said, “this pot of chilli got out of hand, not the one meal portion I had in mind. Maybe we should invite the neighbour down for supper..?” 

Oops. Good thing we had a bottle of antacid tabs and enough bread to cool down the heat of our hot tamale soup. Next day it was back to the wood stove in an attempt to reduce the liquid to a chilli consistency. I also added lots and lots of stuff to counteract the effect of the jalapeños! In went 2 more cans of beans, another pound of ground beef, numerous tomatoes, 2 quarts of spaghetti sauce (they didn’t seal when canned and were still in the fridge) and some flour mixed with the hot liquid. This was no longer a one day meal! As it turned out I had exactly 7 quarts of chilli - a full canner. Nice when things work out like that. So 10 lbs pressure and 90 minutes later I was finally done with the chilli…well nearly. Next day when I checked the jars I discovered 3 out of the seven didn’t seal. Some days a person should just sit in a swing and stare at the beautiful autumn leaves.

Remember that salsa I said I’d make? Nope, just making stewed tomatoes from now on. I don’t think much can go wrong there, you don’t add anything but salt.

mltipton.blogspot.com, https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, Oct.5, 2021

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes!

Only 4 full sized tomato plants of unknown variety, possibly Bonnie’s Best, yielding about 80 beauties per plant. The little ones shown here are called Tumblers & are great for snacking. We have been eating ripe ones directly from our 2 Tumbler plants for quite awhile.

This tomato crop may seem insignificant for someone who is gardening and preserving for a family of growing children, but for my household of two seniors it’s a bonanza! In all my years North of 54 I’ve never had such a bountiful crop, and several of the large ones even ripened on the vine. 

Now, as the green tomatoes ripen under their cozy covers, I keep an eye on them, collect those that are ready, and make tomato stuff - a sometimes daunting, time consuming, yet rewarding process. Our favourite lunch has become buttered toast, layered with tomato and topped with cheese, then baked or broiled till the cheese melts. Scrumptious! I used 25 pounds to make spaghetti sauce, plan on using 12 pounds for BBQ sauce, made green tomato relish, will probably make salsa, and am thinking about Bruschetta. The rest I will can as stewed tomatoes. Hopefully by Thanksgiving (Canadian) the tomato bonanza will be stored away for winter - the last garden task until next year. Will I grow fewer tomatoes in 2022? I’ll decide by what’s left in the root cellar come Spring.

These are called Juliettes.They are a bit like a Roma but smaller - meaty with tough skins. Juliettes are an heirloom variety. Heirloom tomatoes are annual vegetable plants that have not been crossbred or hybridized for at least 40 years. They are open-pollinated, meaning the seeds will produce plants identical to the parent plant. This means you can save your heirloom tomato seeds and grow the same tomatoes next year. I had only one plant but it was prolific. Just yesterday, after frost finally scorched its leaves, I picked another half basket.

mltipton.blogspot.com, https://www.facebook.com/Northof543/, Sept. 27, 2021