Culinary Curiosities

Between the garden and our local farmers’ market, we’ve eaten some tasty oddities. Among my favorites is a corn cob with a conjoined twin, of sorts.

Imagine my surprise...

The unformed ear shows the silk still attached to the forming kernels. I’d forgotten that’s where all those tassels originate. Sorry for the poor focus, which I didn’t recognize before now.

Besides my rotten focus, I broke the
tiny cob, adding insult to injury.

An interesting watermelon surprised me by tasting better icy cold. It was so refreshing that I may buy another tomorrow if they’re still available. ~fingers crossed~ The excess number of seeds was a minor and manageable nuisance.

Yum...

Our gong boa peppers are rather fun. Some of the fruits twist and turn. I’ve been drying them for later use, along with some of the even spicier ‘hot burrito’ variety.

Pretty cool, I think...

Do you have access to an open air market? Can you see the light webbing at left in the middle of the chili’s curl? That would provide fine shelter for a tiny animal, wouldn’t it?

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Hide and Seek – & – An Early Christmasy Surprise

Our vegetable plants continue to produce without any serious pest problems, I’m happy to say. Ripe peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes are easier to spot than cucumbers. Sometimes they elude my notice long past peak canning size. When he saw the one pictured, my husband joked that the rest must have cheered it on.

The one that almost got away...

Another fun thing about gardening is odd but tasty imperfections. The hot burrito chilies are fully ripe when orange but I couldn’t resist picking this one.

I think a Christmas elf lost a shoe...

Have you heard cucumbers called ‘pickles in training’? What’s your favorite vegetable?

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What's in a Name?

Like many people owned by animals, we have used numerous nicknames for our kitties. Jezebel took a while to name in the first place, and I'm unsure as to how we decided or why we started calling her Jeze-boo-bunny-bear. Now however, because I'm once again treating her left eye and ear twice a day for some itching and irritation, I came up with yet another moniker based on "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Well, it's more of an extension. Heh...

In the classic science fiction show, a space-going, hive-minded 'race' headed toward earth to assimilate humanity. Our intrepid Enterprise crew intercepted but found their usual weaponry failing, as these adaptive cyborgs managed to defeat increasing phaser impulse levels. The story made for an excellent cliffhanger ending one season and opening the next.

Cats tend to adapt in a similar way. Treating wily Jezzy requires constant varying approaches. This morning I put down her food as usual, then snapped her up and whisked her to the couch before she ate. I'll probably regret that tomorrow. ~sigh~ We shall see. I have to say she's very sweet, never biting and only scratching me by accident during escape attempts.

Imagine this sweet, sleepy kitty
leading me on a stop-and-go
chase around the house.

 
Is Jeze-boo-bunny-bear-borg too much? Should I drop the 'bear'? And why, do you suppose, is she easier to nab in the evenings?

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Hot and Bothered

Today I harvested the first of our ‘hot burrito’ peppers. We also picked a few eggplants, several treasured Roma tomatoes, and still more cucumbers. But these new-to-us chilies have been long awaited.

Since we sampled a fresh gong bao pepper with all its tag’s heat warnings and didn’t suffer overmuch, I thought nothing of slicing up one of these chubby orange beauties. Wow, what a shock! Over an hour after digesting half in a few bites, my lungs are still a bit congested and my throat irritated. At least my nose quit running (see * in notes below). And that’s after removing the seeds, which brings me to some things we need to remember.

Notes:
1. Wear plastic gloves to handle ‘hot burrito’ fruits in future.
2. Do not confuse them for sweet snacking peppers of similar size.
3. * Flimsy facial tissues do not protect nasal cavities from capsaicin. Heh... Another lesson learned.

Sweet ones (right) have a lobed end.
The hot burrito tips are pointed &
rated between 3000 - 6000.

On another note, thank you to all my silly blog’s faithful followers. Your kind words and clever tips are much appreciated. I adore you all and plan to look up an eggplant lasagna recipe as well as freezing unused fresh onion in future. ~grin~ Stay safe and sane, my friends.

Did you know the Scoville scale estimates the heat level of hot peppers? Would you guess a United States pharmacist formulated the test in 1912?

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