Hot Pepper Weather

We are breaking near-century-old records right now, with consecutive daytime highs passing 108* and 109*F. Everything is suffering, you can see it when you drive down the road- tree leaves are dehydrating, all the animals are invisible, hiding in shady wallows or searching for water... my chickens are panting like dogs, my dog is staying inside like her humans, and the humans scurry from air conditioned space to air conditioned space practically stroking out during the time in between. My garden is turning crispy and brown, despite the irrigation... cantaloupe vines have shriveled, tomatoes are blighted, herbs are all bolted... and my peppers are having the best season ever.

I couldn't believe all the jalapenos, banana peppers, chilies and bells not only surviving but thriving when I took my first walk in the garden once we got back home from our trip. I picked two gallon-sized bags of various peppers and stuck them in the fridge to be dealt with later, then did the same thing the following two weekends in a row. Finally, this weekend, I decided it was time to do something with them all, so I pulled out my old favorite go-to's and my new favorite book and got right on it.

For the majority of the mild/sweet peppers, I've simply been dehydrating them, then putting them through the blender to make a sort of homemade paprika. I love it so hard. I have a spicy version, too, but I don't use it as much. I am already afraid I haven't made enough and I've turned pounds and pounds of sweet banana peppers, purple bells, sweet Carmens and yellow "snacking" peppers into my fav powder.

For a huge percentage of the jalapenos, it's been the fermenting crock for them. I just finished my first round of 'em- a 2-quart jar full- and they've been dehydrating out on my back porch for the last 36 hours. Nice and crispy now, they'll be pulverized with some good sea salt for my second-fav pepper application: jalapeno salt.

For the rest of the bags and bags of the hottest, I blended them into a 'mash' and salted them in layers, to be turned into a base condiment that I'll experiment with in about a month or so when it's nice and sour (think pickled pepper relish).

I also have a 2' long string of drying red chilies for home-grown red pepper flakes, and a homemade version of Tobasco with real Tobasco peppers lined up in the queue. It's a good thing I have an industrial-sized box of latex-free gloves at the ready! It never fails: there is always one bountiful something every year, despite my neglect and my best efforts, and I will always do my best to make the most of it! I'm lovin' this hot pepper weather!