Hot Peppers: Growing A Hot Pepper Plant In Your Garden

I grew up with a love for eating hot peppers at an early age, and this craving still continues today. Last year was my first time trying to grow a hot pepper plant in our garden. I love the idea of growing fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruit in your own backyard, and then picking them and using them for one of your recipes.

 

Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper from our garden

So, here's what I did. I started collecting seeds from hot peppers I thought had a good color, flavor and texture. Last spring, I planted the seeds in a large pot just to see what happened. Many of the seeds germinated and I ended up with a potful of plants. Unfortunately, I did not replant the larger plants in separate pots, and when our hard freezes came in Gainesville, Florida last winter, all the plants died. 

                                                                                             

I decided to wait until this spring and to see what would happen. I waited with patience and then one day, I saw some leaves coming out of the soil. As the leaves continued to grow, I realized that it was one of my hot pepper plants that had survived the harsh winter. This is what my hot pepper plant, featured in the photo above, looked like today when I took these pictures. There is only one pepper on the tree, but I noticed that there are several more buds coming out.

I think that this year, if we have any hard freezes, I will bring my hot pepper plant indoors to protect it. Please note that growing this plant did not take any special skills or equipment. I just scattered the seeds in a large pot with some good potting soil. The seeds were buried only about 1/2" in the soil. We have an irrigation unit in the pot which is set to water the plant twice a week. When the weather is very hot, I water an additional one to two times a week.

The main thing I'd like to convey is that you can try a very small garden which does not take a great deal of time or effort to maintain. When I first started gardening, I didn't think I could do it, but I tried anyway. All you need is patience, and never give up even though your plants die from a hard freeze. More often than not, they will bloom again in the spring, for this is the cycle of life.

                                                             

                          YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN UNTIL YOU TRY!





White Egg Omelet Recipe: How To Use Leftover Egg Whites

In my last blog post where I shared my Mango Key Lime Pie recipe, I talked about reserving the egg whites for use in another recipe.

I am a strong proponent of using as much as we can without wasting anything. If a recipe calls for using only a part of an ingredient, in this case, eggs, I will always reserve the unused ingredient to use in another recipe. I also love using leftovers to create a completely new dish so you don't have to keep eating the same thing for days in a row. So, there will be a lot of cross-referencing of recipes in future blog posts, as I show you how to be creative with your leftovers to whip up more amazing gourmet dishes.

In the Mango Key Lime recipe, we used the egg yolks, but not the egg whites. Here is a simple recipe utilizing the egg whites to make a White Egg Omelet.

The ingredients for this recipe are as follows:

• 4 eggs whites
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• fresh spinach leaves
• 1 oz. goat cheese, shredded
• Goya Adobo seasoning to taste
• McCormick's coarse ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tbsp. Goya extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp. Land O Lakes unsalted sweet cream butter

METHOD

• Beat egg whites with fork
• Add diced onions and tomatoes
• Season with Adobo and black pepper to taste
• Heat medium size skillet on medium high heat
• Melt butter in extra virgin olive oil in skillet
• Pour egg white mixture into skillet
• Lower heat to medium low
• Allow egg whites to cook through softly (do not overcook)
• Remove from heat
• Layer spinach leaves on omelet
• Sprinkle shredded goat cheese over omelet
• Serve immediately while hot                                                                                                    

                                                                   

                                                          

                          

Easy Key Lime Pie and Mango Key Lime Pie Recipes

Check out my recipes for the photo featured in my last blog post:

                                             Mango Key Lime Pie and Key Lime Pie recipes

I also wanted to share some more photos to help you with the steps for this recipe.

Fresh Key Limes from our backyard

I used fresh Key Limes from the tree in our backyard. If you can't find fresh Key Limes, another good option is Nellie and Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice or another comparable brand of Key Lime juice.











An exact 1/2 cup measure of Key Lime juice


         
         
          Use a good standard measuring cup to
          ensure that you have the proper
          measurement. This is particularly important
          when baking.












Separate egg yolks from whites manually or using an egg separator





If you have trouble separating egg yolks from egg whites manually, using an egg separator will help with this step.










                 


Whisked Egg Yolks
 

                  


                 Whisk the eggs yolks only. You 
                 can reserve the egg whites for 
                 another recipe. I used mine to                   make a delicious egg white
                 omelet using onions, tomatoes,
                 fresh basil, and grated goat cheese.
                


 

 

 

   
Add the Key Lime juice and whisk in  for a minute or so until completely incorporated into the egg yolks.












Add sweetened condensed milk





Continue using the wire whisk to blend in the sweetened condensed milk.











Layer mango slices




                    

             Layer the mango slices, overlapping them
             if needed to completely cover the bottom
             layer of the graham cracker crust.









Pour Key Lime mixture over mango slices

                                                       



Pour Key Lime mixture over mango slices using a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture from the sides of the bowl.











Fill graham cracker crust completely






                  Pour all of Key Lime pie mixture into
                  the graham cracker crust and bake at
                  350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15
                  minutes.   








Garnish with additional mango slices if desired

                                                               
                

           

Let Mango Key Lime Pie cool completely. You can garnish the top by layering with additional mango slices. Some people like their pie served with a dollop of whipped cream as well. Enjoy!

For The Love Of Food

I grew up with a wonderful tradition in my family "For The Love Of Food". We cooked together and sat down at the dinner table to savor our labors of love. We always cooked large quantities of food, for as my Daddy would say, you never know who will drop by. And sure enough, almost always, there would be someone who would visit. Friends, family, or people who worked in the family business who appreciated just as we did, this feeling of love and connection that came from sharing at the table.

Mango Key Lime Pie

Today, I am very excited to write my first blog...ever! So, I decided I'd write about what I know and love. My future posts will all surround the theme of food, including recipes, cooking tips, shopping tips, photos, articles, and most of all, family memories and traditions. I am looking forward to sharing these with you and I hope that you'll enjoy them as much I love writing them. If you're interested in my recipe for Mango Key Lime Pie featured in the photo above, tune in for more soon...