More on jalapeños

If you've been reading me regularly, you know that this is the first year I've grown jalapeño peppers. (This is the first year I've had a vegetable garden at all.) And I don't know if this is a weird season or what, but it sure seems like the weather is moving way too quickly for the garden inhabitants. All the bell peppers are still tiny, there are still dozens of unripened tomatoes, the cantaloupe fruits aren't near picking-sized yet, etc. Yet it's getting down to 45 degrees some nights. Is this normal? Is the growing season in Chicagoland just not quite long enough?

(A tangent: that, I realize, is the stupidest question in the world, especially coming from me. I've long supported the weather in Chicago — I love the hot summers and cold winters — but I still believe the summer needs to be about one month longer and the winter needs to be about one month shorter. That might be a perfect climate.)

So if you read yesterday about my stuffed jalapeño pepper lunch, you know that I've harvested only 5 jalapeño peppers from the garden. There are more out there, but it's hard for me to tell if they're ready. I'm looking for that really saturated green, and for the size, that I'm accustomed to seeing in the grocery store. And that is, for the most part, what I got yesterday.

But some of the peppers are getting striated. Here is a pic:


See the three that have lines on them? Do you think that means they're overly ripe? For the record, they all tasted great. I'm just wondering if I should take that as a sign that it's definitely time to pick 'em.

And I'm still wondering what I thought I would do with all those habanero peppers and chili peppers. In the beginning, I swore to use my entire yield, even if I had to freeze stuff, and I think it's time to pick and freeze some peppers.

Everything's better wrapped in bacon

My vegetable garden has given me five full-grown jalapeño peppers so far, and today I turned them into one of the yummier appetizers in my appetizer-repertoire:

Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers

Ingredients
1) Jalapeño peppers
2) Cream cheese
3) Bacon

Directions
1) Slice jalapeños in half; discard seeds (to taste; I like to leave a few)
2) Spread cream cheese into each half
3) Wrap each in bacon (about 1/2 slice of bacon per 1/2 jalapeño)
4) Bake in oven at about 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (until bacon is cooked)

Last time I made these, it seemed like I used too much bacon, so this time I thirded each slice rather than halving them. But 1/3 slice really was not enough by the time the bacon cooked down. A half slice is right.

Here is the result:


These jalapeños were nice and hot! I probably could have removed all the seeds and they still would have been spicy enough. (Not usually the case, in my experience ... I like HOT foods!) Even now, six hours after consuming them for lunch and after having washed my hands many, many times, my fingertips are still spicy to the tongue (and, unfortunately, to the eyes).