Soooo many PEPPERS!

Hello everyone!

I've had a busy few weeks and unfortunately haven't posted.  During that time, I have: quit a job that I hated (although I'm still working there, training the new person.  But the end is in sight!), taken a short vacation to Las Vegas to visit a friend, been working on law school applications, AND I might be moving across the country in less than a month.  Wow.

So yesterday, my hubby and I went to go visit his sister, S, and her family in Brigham City- about 1 1/2 hours north of where we live in Orem, UT.  They have a little festival every fall called Peach Days- because there are loads of orchards and farms right around there.

Can I just say, this is why I love local produce:

Because I got ALL OF THAT PRODUCE for around $34.  The breakdown was thus:

1/2 Bushel Peaches (half of which S and I canned immediately): $15

2 pie pumpkins: $0.25/pound; total $1.75

5 Cucumbers: $1.00

Jalepenos: "small basket," or ~5lbs: $3.95

Chile peppers: "small basket," also ~5lbs: $5.00

4lb bucket pie cherries (not pictured, because I forgot) $7.00

2 green tomatoes, a pile of roma tomatoes, and a pile of tomatillos: FREE from S's garden (Thanks!)

I know I've talked about buying local before, but still- think about it, you can't go wrong.  Cheap, tastier, BETTER produce.  Real food, people!

Here's what I'm doing with this stuff:

I canned half the peaches.  We'll eat most of the rest fresh, and I might can more.  The pie pumpkins, rather than being used for pie, will be baked and juiced.  I'll talk more about juicing in another post- it's something M and I have been doing lately to add micro-nutrients to our diet.  I'll make salad out of the cucumbers.  As far as the peppers are concerned, I'm going to make some Jalepeno poppers, probably dice and freeze some of them, and I plan to dry the rest and make pepper Ristas- those pretty hanging pepper displays you see in the southwest.  The pie cherries will be, well, PIE, by this evening.  The green tomatoes will be sliced and fried, the Roma's will either be a tomato sauce, or just be incorporated in our regular eating this week (I use tomatoes a lot).  As for the tomatillos, I'm not sure yet- I haven't used them much, so I need to figure something out.

So, in a nutshell, I've got lots of great produce, and I'm thinking I'll be a very happy camper this week.  I'll try to blog a lot in the coming weeks, about said Cherry Pie, Ristas, and maybe what I do with those Tomatillos.  Oh, and the Jalepeno Poppers as well.  YUM!