poppers

Tomatoes best friend- the peppers – are finally starting to really produce. We’ve been waiting all summer to start feeding our popper cravings!

Now I know some people get really fancy with their poppers – with breading and bacon and the whole nine yards.

Personally – I really love them that way, but just can’t justify the time or extra calories several times a week.

So we’ve come up with a much simpler version that allows us to each poppers 3 or 4 nights a week – which is a very happy thing!

We wash the jalapeno peppers, cut off the stem end, and slice them lengthwise. Then we use a metal measuring spoon to dig out the seeds and fill the cavity with cream cheese.

We put them on a foil lined baking sheet and bake them at 350 for about 30 minutes. When they are soft and the cream cheese is brown and bubbly – we just put the entire pan in the middle of the table and feast!

And I do mean feast! It’s every man, woman and child for themselves! We call it the “popper roulette” because you never know whether the one you choose is going to be a hot one.

Every once in a while the chef may leave a popper with the seeds and membranes in it so that one unsuspecting victim will get a a real kick! 🙂

As we shoveled them in tonight, Dagmar wondered if there were any other crazy families out there who sit at the supper table and pop poppers like candy?

I sure hope so! It’s one very tasty family tradition!

I’ve linked this post with Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

Seeds Packets

It’s official now! We have ordered the garden seeds.

Spring is definitely coming.

After perusing the catalogs, researching the varieties, and studying all the options I have finally decided to plant <insert dramatic pause with drum roll> the very same things I planted last year! 🙂

The only difference is that last year I didn’t start the seeds – they were given to me.

One of the guys my husband works with is big into gardening. He ordered several packets of heirloom seeds and took them into a local nursery to have them started. He specifically told them to start 25 of each kind.

They planted every seed.

Instead of several hundred plants to deal with – he know had several thousand!

He handed out heirloom tomato plants like they were zucchini’s in August!

I will admit that I was not happy when my husband brought home several plants (over 100).

My only experience with heirloom tomatoes was the year I didn’t get to the Amish store soon enough to buy my bedding plants. All they had left was the Brandywine variety.

What a disaster! Have you ever seen a bulbous nose? That’s what those tomatoes looked like. They never really turned a true red – and part of the tomato would rot while the other half was still green.

The texture was funny and they didn’t work well in my spaghetti sauces.

Major tomato fail.

But we planted the heirlooms anyway. At least they were free – and there wasn’t a Brandywine in the bunch!

It was a very wet year – and nobody had a very good tomato crop – but the ones we did get were really nice!

But the real winners were the peppers – both sweet and hot. We had a jalapeno variety that made the absolute best poppers known to man. The kids and I ate them every day for lunch for weeks on end. Seriously. Every day.

I crave them even now as I’m typing.

My husband found out where these seeds came from and last night we finally made out our order at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

I haven’t started plants for at least 10 years – the old house was just too small and cold; last year was just too confusing with trying to move and settle in.

This is the year.

In a few days a packet full of springtime will arrive in my mailbox – tiny little seeds full of potential and hope.

I will plant them, water them, and watch them carefully. All the while dreaming of my beautiful, weed free garden full of luscious healthy produce.

I can just taste those poppers now!

So – how about you? What state is your garden in?

Tag: poppers

Let the Gardening Begin!