Welcome to May. I have lots of tomatoes and peppers to put out in the garden (and by the time this posts, I certainly hope they are out of the greenhouse and vegging in the garden!
I have lots of Black Cherry tomatoes that I grew from seeds that I saved from last year’s harvest. They are great for containers just FYI.
I really think I have about twenty Black Cherries started. Here’s the rest of the future tomato crop:
- San Marcos
- Super Fantastic
- Brandy Wine Red
- Gold Rush
- Al-Kuffa
Mom recently delivered some more tomato plants: Black Krim, Amish Paste, Ox Heart, Mountain Fresh, and German Johnson. Thanks, Mom!!
As for peppers, we love us some jalapenos. We also picked up a couple of Brazilian Orchid peppers recently. Our zoo hosted a plant sale on Earth Day. We went for a couple of scoops of Zoo Poo for the garden. We brought home a lot more plants (including those peppers).
Besides the Brazilian Orchid pepper, here are some others we have going in the greenhouse:
- Big Jim
- Guajillo
- Lipstick
- Mini bells in gold, yellow and red.
- Jedi Jalapeno
- Biker Billy Jalapeno
- Jalapeno Purple
- Jalapeno Orange
- Sweet Banana
Hopefully there will be some salsas and tomato preserves in the upcoming IMK posts at EE.
And, hopefully, there will be some stuffed peppers.
The in-laws gave me this gadget. Can’t wait to try it for stuffed peppers on the grill this summer. (It might work better than the paring knife I use.) 🙂
At a recent staff meeting, some colleagues were talking about some great local products. The pickles, they raved, were so good that you had to be careful not to eat a jarful in one sitting. They also talked about a peach salsa and said you must get the hot version! Where, I asked, do you find these delicacies?
At our local farm and ranch stores. I stopped in on my way home.
The pickles are good, but I really think they taste like some my Uncle used to make. You can find the recipe here. The salsa is delicious, sweet and spicy and thick. You do need to purchase the hot version, though. I’m not sure the mild one would have enough “oomph.”
That’s about it for the kitchen. But, I have read some fantastic culinary books.
I recently finished Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl (love her). This might be my favorite memoir of hers. Look for a separate post here soon. You can see all my Ruth fan-girl rants here. 
I highly recommend this read.
Because of the April Food ‘n Flix feature film, Spinning Plates, I picked up Grant Aschatz’ memoir.
Life, on the Line is a fascinating and heartbreaking tale of a truly creative genius. If you haven’t seen Spinning Plates, seek it out immediately. I loved it so much I did three posts about it:
Simple Guacamole
Charcuterie Burger with Sauce Gribiche and Apple
Tri-Berry Pie
In My Kitchen is hosted at the first of every month by Sherry’s Pickings. 