Fun in the Kitchen

There was threat of frost last week, so we hauled out the garden. This is not saying much, because then the entire garden was in our kitchen! ha ha! I have been working quite a bit, so today was the first day we had a chance to do anything. We have been up since 5:30 working--I am going to wish I got called in to work. zzzzzzzz....

At 6:30 we were out at the fire pit roasting chili peppers. So far we have made green cayenne/cherry pepper sauce and are drying red cayenne for grinding. I made a giant pot of roasted chili sauce with a variety of chili peppers: Green, Red, Anaheim, Fresno and Cowhorn. We also threw a bunch of Jalapenos in there as well. I cooked them until they were soft (oh yeah--I also threw a random peck of misc. tomatoes in there....) and ran the whole thing through the food mill. It came out this absolutely gorgeous thick sauce. It has a very nice flavor to it, and "Woah Nelly!" some pretty major heat. (see pictures!) It will make a very nice base for enchiladas and/or chili or anything else like that. I got about a gallon of sauce.

I was musing about making this sauce while we were at Mom and Dad's this past weekend. Dad was fantasizing about a green chili stew with veggies and potatoes in it. Inspired, I cooked some onions and garlic in a little shortening in a skillet, threw in some chopped carrots, celery, garlic and potatoes (salt, pepper, onion/garlic powder, cumin) and a handful of leftover chicken spiedies. Oh boy, is it ever good--just VERY SPICY!!!

We were joking that after today in our house, flu shots were optional. I don't know about Scott, but my airways are feeling quite purified! I promise I will not let you know how any other of my bodily pathways are doing after eating the chili stew..... heh heh heh....