The garden progresses

The weather continues to be abnormal, running about 10 to 20 degrees below normal all of July and for the first week in August. One of the weathermen made an interesting comment this morning, he said that our cool weather was related to the heat in the other half of the country and would continue as long as the heat lasted on the east coast. Well, let us hope we all get some relief soon. The oakleaf hydrangea (above) does seem to be enjoying all this. This has to be it's best year so far.

There were some surprises in the garden last week. I picked four tomatoes, one the size of a golf ball. the other three were Roma types and were picked one day at a time and eaten before they got out of the garden. Picking them one day at a time is not going to give me tomato sauce.

That was the bad news. The good news is the acorn squash. I had been watching the first blossom, the one that gave a cute little acorn but nothing much was  happening.   However, back, closer to the container in which I (insanely) chose to grow this plant, I moved a couple of leaves and found two full size squash! One is larger than the ones in the store and the other just a tad under that. A little way down that stem is their smaller cousin. I am just delighted, but I am sure I don't understand how this plant works. Not first in, first finished? Does anyone

know the answer? Whatever, we will have squash for Thanksgiving. When I first found these gems they were pure white, now they are muted shades of green.

The second good news from the garden is the Padron pepper. I couldn't wait, I had to try them. I  picked just a small handful and brought them into the house. After all my neighbor, Karen, had said about eating them in Spain, I had to try them.... like now.

Here is the

Recipe

Padron peppers

Olive oil

Coarse or flaked salt

Heat the oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot drop in the whole peppers, stems attached and stand back; they will pop and splatter. "Fry" them until they are  blistered, turn to the other side and so the same. Turn out on a paper towel or brown bag to drain off the oil. Salt lightly. Serve hot and eat quickly.

OK, there is a caveat here. From what I have read, some of these peppers can be really hot. It has been described as a kind of Russian roulette. Some say one in a hundred can be the scorcher, some say one in five. I doubt the later. You just never know. If you really worry about that, bite the tip off and check. The more mature they get the warmer they get, so I am told. I picked two that were about an inch long each; they really didn't have much taste at all, so don't err on the opposite side. Two and three inches long seems to be about right; at that point they have a nice flavor. Serves these at your World Series party.

For an interesting article on these little darlings, see Calvin Trillin's take on the search for them here in the States. ( I do love his writing.) He loves these peppers even more than Karen does.

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2005/01/pepper

Here they are, then they are blistered and now gone.