Back inside I sat down for some work cleaning and sorting them. I kept two cups out fresh for a Blueberry Cream pie "someone" in this house requested for tomorrow. Also a container for fresh eating in the next couple of days went into the refridge.
Smooshed up four quarts for a batch of jam (which just came out of the canner), and put the rest in the freezer.
Remember last year when my green pepper plants kept dying one after another? I never did figure out what was killing them, but as a result I managed to get only four and a half (some must have had to eat peanut butter and jelly that night) servings of Stuffed Green Peppers in the freezer. Well, this year the pepper plants are hale and hardy and are producing their little hearts out so I made a double batch of stuffed peppers yesterday, and another one today.
When the batch from today is frozen solid and wrapped for storage, we'll have thirty meals worth. To which my dear husband said, "You will make more yet, won't you?" 'Tis one of his favorite dinners, and he would eat it a couple of times a week with no complaint.
I just took this pic while standing on the back porch looking across the yard. (The rain is still coming down steadily and is so very, very welcome.) See those orange leaves just to the upper right of center? They are on a little scrub bush we call a Moose Maple up here, and it's always the first to turn color when we start moving toward fall.
Best of all, the rain has arrived with dropped temperatures and it feels so good! Bring it on, I'm ready to be able to snuggle in bed at night with the covers up to my chinny-chin-chin!
Wow - great day all around. Our vine maples are turning - and even the Big Leaf Maples are turning - much too early. I think I'll make and freeze some stuffed peppers too - we love them - maybe not as much as Papa Pea - but we do love them.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn - Our daughter told us we're supposed to get an early and super-hard winter this year. (I forget to ask where she got her information.)
DeleteNow get thee into the kitchen and make those Stuffed Green Peppers!
Isn't it wonderful?????? Rain, cool temps, garden bounty. Truly THE Good Life!
ReplyDeleteRain again today for us. I think I see baking in my future. Hooray!!!!!!! I think the oven has been feeling neglected this HOT summer....
Sue - I actually got up in the middle of last night to close the bedroom window! It was WONDERFUL! I just remarked to hubby that I have a large turkey in the freezer that I need to get out to make room for more garden harvest and this morning I wish I had it defrosted and ready to go in the oven. That same oven I've wanted to use so many times in the past awful, terrible, sweaty, uncomfortable hot, hot weather but couldn't. Oven neglect, for sure!
DeleteHope in a photo! I am SO over this summer. The heat and humidity have really done me in this year. Bring on Fall!
ReplyDeleteNothing makes SM more happy than Stuffed Peppers. Tell Papa Pea that great minds think alike :)
Tami - Papa Pea has really suffered with our unusual hot weather and humidity this year. I thought I was going to have to wrap him in an iced sheet a couple of times so he could survive! ;o)
DeleteHmmmm, Stuffed Peppers must be a "guy" thing, eh?
I don't think I've eaten a stuffed pepper in my life. What is the mixture you stuff them with? -Jenn
ReplyDeleteJenn - Ground beef, a mixture of brown and wild rice, onions, garlic, tomato sauce and seasonings. Neither of us had ever had a Stuff Green Pepper until I started making them years ago. By freezing them in packages for the two of us, I just have to take them out of the freezer several hours before dinner, let them defrost on the counter and then bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. (I put grated cheese over them in the pan before baking.) Makes an easy, easy meal for me to prepare. I like to serve them with a side of corn.
DeleteYou spent a wonderful rainy day in the kitchen I see. That is my favorite place to be as well. At least once it cools down. We love the peppers as well and I freeze just as you do. But once thawed and ready to back I make a tomato sauce and put about 2 inches of the sauce in a backing dish and then place the pepper and put on the lid. Back as you would and then I serve with mashed potatoes, corn and fried cabbage.
ReplyDeleteKim - Funny you should talk about the tomato sauce method. I always did ours exactly the same way -- tomato sauce, lid on baking dish. Then for some reason, I made them with the grated cheese on top (uncovered dish in oven) and we both liked them better that way. Just goes to show there's more than one way to serve a good stuffed pepper! I love the idea of serving cabbage with them and I may try that this winter! Thanks for the idea.
DeleteHard to take in that fall is really just around the corner. And your green peppers look perfect! Do you grow organically?
ReplyDeleteMollie - Hubby and I were just talking about how long this summer has seemed . . . as opposed to usually seeming so short. I think it's all due to the unusual hot and muggy weather we've had! On the other hand, it's enabled our garden to grow really well so we shall not complain.
DeleteYes, we absolutely grow our food organically. We believe it's the only way to maintain health and vitality. We've never used any poisons, pesticides, etc. on our property. One of the main reasons we moved from the (once) beautiful farm land in Illinois was of all the poisons being routinely used on the farms and in the gardens.
Your peppers looks delicious! My pepper plants didn't produce the first one. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteWe saw some Aspens starting to turn here in Colorado, today. I would love to be here when they are at their peak, but we go home on Friday. I'll just have to enjoy photos of them taken by my Colorado girl.
Laurie - That's curious your peppers didn't produce considering your hot weather which they love. Sometimes we just don't know what happened!
DeleteEnjoy your remaining days in Colorado!
Mama Pea: what variety are your peppers? They are beautiful. I am in central Ontario and never have a lot of luck with peppers in our relatively short season. This year I started them early under lights and pruned them. Resulted in a few more, but nothing like your harvest.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rosalea - Thanks for commenting. I planted three peppers that are suitable for stuffing: California Wonder, Big Red and one that was given to me -- sorry I don't know the name. The California Wonder is probably the most dependable. I start mine under lights, too, and then they go outside in a cold frame until the weather really warms up. Otherwise, they would never mature for me. Good luck with them next year!
DeleteMama Pea, I would love that recipe. I am checking my peppers again today. That would be a wonderful quick dinner for us meat eaters here.
ReplyDeleteKristina - I will e-mail you the recipe within the next couple of days. They are a tasty, easy, quick dinner, that's for sure.
DeleteYour blueberry harvest makes me quite jealous. Can't wait to get osme in the ground. There are several blueberry farms near the country house so I need to find the right variety. Glad you got some rain.
ReplyDeleteDFW - If you have blueberry farms near your country house, you know they'll grow well for you. They take a couple/few years to bear after planting, but then it's so nice to have them right in your yard.
DeleteMama Pea,
ReplyDeleteOMG.....look at those gorgeous peppers!!! You've stuffed them....one of my favorite meals. We have a large harvest of peppers to harvest real soon. I'm thinking of roasting them and placing them in olive oil to store.
Sending hugs your way.
Sandy
Sandy - Mmmmm, roasted peppers! Love 'em. Hugs to you, too!
DeleteWhoa! That is some pepper haul you have there! I took your cue and made some stuffed poblano peppers for the freezer last year. This year? I got one. Not exactly sustaining.
ReplyDeleteSusan - Wouldn't ya think with all your hot, hot weather this summer you'd have peppers coming out of your ears (as I do)? Wonder if a box of mine would survive the USP Service on a trip to you? Probably not.
DeleteThat's quite a pepper harvest! Your berries look great. We had rain on Sunday and I finally caught up to vacuuming (oh the horror) and dusting the house. I reorganized the kitchen too. It was the perfect day for it. But we are in another little heat wave here, which I personally love! There will be enough chilly weather in the near future, I still want to be out in my bathing suit on the porch swing for a little while longer! Our nights are very cool though, which makes sleeping very comfy! We have a few maple trees that are turning colours too, soon enough it'll be a feast for the eyes around here.
ReplyDeleteRain - I usually feel energized on rainy days, too. Love to put on lights in the house to make it look cozy and good CDs on my kitchen player.
DeleteThose cool nights that start this time of year (we're still waiting) feel soooo good!
Mama Pea,
ReplyDeleteWill you please email me the instructions and recipe for making and freezing bell peppers? Hubby made them after I read your post to him. They were delicious. My question is -- HOW TO FREEZE THEM -- Do you cook them first and then freeze OR -- Prepare (uncooked meat mixture), stuff and freeze? This is a new recipe for us and I think I created a monster -- hubby is in love and we are over-run with peppers this year.
I need HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
Many thanks for all you share with us.
Bobbie - I've had other requests for the Stuffed Green Pepper recipe so I will do it in post form this weekend. It's been a good pepper year here, too, and I just put another batch in the freezer today. At the rate I'm making them, we may be eating them two or three times a week this winter! I do think they are a "man food" as my hubby loves them, too, and so have all males I've served them to. I will get that post up shortly.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete